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rsne  ,  o  .  ^ 

-  _ — , — ... ! 


IN  THE  HEART 
OF  THE 
CONGO 


By  4 

Chas.  L.  Crane 


PRICE  10  CENTS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/inheartofcongoOOcran 


IN  THE 

HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 

By 

CHAS.  L.  CRANE 


Published  by 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE  U.  S. 
NASHVILLE,  TENNESSEE 


Educational  Department 


PREFACE 


This  booklet  is  a  thorough  revision  of  “In  the  Heart  of 
Africa,”  which  met  with  a  hearty  reception  in  1917,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  many  warm  expressions  of  apprecia¬ 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  friends  in  the  homeland.  It  has  been 
compiled  also  for  an  emergency.  Rev.  Motte  Martin  and 
Mr.  Frank  Gilliam  were  appointed  to  secure  literature  from 
our  missionaries  for  the  study  of  the  Congo  Mission  in  the 
Sunday  schools  during  1924,  Mr.  Martin  to  secure  such  lit¬ 
erature  from  the  missionaries  on  the  field  and  Mr.  Gilliam 
from  those  on  furlough.  Owing  to  serious  illness  in  his 
family,  Mr.  Martin  has  been  unavoidably  delayed,  so  the  Ad- 
Interim  Committee  took  the  matter  in  their  hands  and  asked 
certain  missionaries  for  contributions.  This  brochure  is  in 
response  to  that  request.  We  trust  that  it  will  serve  its  pur¬ 
pose  of  bringing  a  thorough  knowledge  of  conditions  on  the 
field,  our  present  problems  and  policies. 

It  has  just  occurred  to  us,  too,  that  this  book  may  fill  an¬ 
other  purpose.  So  many  of  our  hospitable  hosts  in  entertain¬ 
ing  us  during  our  visits  to  their  churches,  ask  just  such  ques¬ 
tions  as  are  contained  herein.  Missionaries  are  perfectly  will¬ 
ing  to  serve  in  any  capacity,  especially  in  conveying  any  in¬ 
formation  possible  about  their  work,  but  often  they  have 
wished  for  just  such  a  book  to  put  into  the  hands  of  an  in¬ 
quisitive  host  who  keeps  them  from  resting  in  the  lazy  hours 
of  the  day  or  from  much  needed  sleep  at  night.  We  suggest 
that  you  read  this  book  and  surprise  the  next  missionary 
you  entertain  by  knowing  it  by  heart. 


Charles  L.  Crane. 

Mutoto,  Congo  Beige,  Africa,  October  10,  1923. 


Key  to  Pronunciation. 

Examples : 

Bakete  .  Bah-ket-ty 

Baitetela  .  Ba-teh-tay-lah 

Bakuba  .  Ba-koo-bah 

Bena  Lulua  . Bay-nah  Loo-loo-ah 

Bulape . Boo-lah-pay  (accent  on  last  syllable) 

Ibanche  .  Ee-ban-je 

Kinshasa  .  Kin-shah-sah 

Kasai  .  Kas-sai 

Luebo  .  Loo-ay-bo 

Lusambo  .  Loo-sam-bo 

Matadi  .  Ma-tah-di 

Mutoto  . Moo-to-to 

Sankuru  .  San-koo-roo 

Thysville  . Tais-vil 

Ubangi  .  U-bang-gi 

Bibanga  .  Bee-bahng-gah  (accent  second  syllable) 

Tchikapa  .  Chi-kah-pah 


KATEKISM  ON  THE  KONGO 
KOUNTRY 


I.  GEOGRAPHY  OF  AFRICA  AND  THE  CONGO. 

1.  How  does  Africa  compare  with  other  continents  as  to 

size  ? 

It  is  second  in  size,  only  Asia  being  larger. 

2.  How  does  it  compare  with  other  countries  as  to  popula¬ 

tion  ? 

It  is  third  among  the  heathen  countries  as  to  popu¬ 
lation,  China  being  first  with  400,000,000,  India  next 
with  250,000,000,  and  Africa  following  with  a  popu¬ 
lation  variously  estimated  between  160  and  200  mil¬ 
lions. 

3.  Why  can  not  an  accurate  census  be  taken? 

Because  of  the  primitive  conditions  and  customs  of 
the  people,  many  of  whom  live  away  in  the  bush  where 
the  white  man  rarely  penetrates. 

4.  What  countries  could  be  accommodated  in  the  area  of 

Africa? 

Europe,  India,  China,  the  United  States  and  imost 
of  the  British  Isles  could  be  accommodated  in  Africa 
without  serious  crowding. 

5.  What  is  remarkable  about  all  this  immense  territory? 

That  out  of  11,500,000  square  miles,  less  than  250,- 
000  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  native  Africans  them¬ 
selves,  the  rest  being  partitioned  among  the  various 
European  powers. 

6.  What  European  powers  control  most  of  the  territory? 

England  and  France  control  the  largest  share,  the 
area  controlled  by  France  being  larger  than  that  of 
any  other  power;  Belgium,  Italy,  Portugal  and  Spain 
all  have  their  share. 

[  5  ] 


6 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


7.  What  became  of  the  German  Colonies  after  the  Great  War 

of  1914-1918? 

The  Cameroons,  being  assigned  by  mandate  to 
France,  are  really  a  part  of  her  colonial  possessions; 
Togo-land  went  to  England,  as  well  as  German  East 
Africa,  except  that  two  small  provinces  of  the  latter, 
the  Rua  and  Urundi,  were  assigned  to  Belgium;  while 
the  former  German  colony  on  the  West  Coast,  Ger¬ 
man  Southwest  Africa,  was  assigned  to  the  Union  of 
South  Africa  and  thus  became  in  reality  a  part  of  the 
British  colonial  possessions. 

8.  What  countries  maintained  a  nominal  independence  be¬ 

fore  the  World  War? 

Abyssinia  and  Liberia,  the  latter  having  been 
founded  in  1821-’21  as  an  asylum  for  the  freed  slaves 
of  America  and  having  maintained  practically  com¬ 
plete  autonomy  since  1848-1849. 

9.  What  other  large  country  has  recently  obtained  its  auto¬ 

nomy  ? 

Egypt,  which  in  1921  ceased  to  become  a  protector¬ 
ate  of  the  British  Crown  and  crowned  its  own  king. 

10.  In  what  division  of  Africa  is  our  Congo  Mission? 

In  the  Belgian  Congo,  which  occupies  almost  the 
exact  center  of  the  Continent,  extending  about  5  de¬ 
grees  above  the  equator  and  12  degrees  below  it. 

11.  Why  is  it  called  the  Belgian  Congo? 

Because  controlled  by  Belgium  and  to  distinguish 
from  the  French  Congo  to  the  north  and  west  of  the 
Congo  river. 

12.  What  great  river,  with  its  tributaries,  waters  the  whole 

of  the  Belgian  Congo  and  a  large  part  of  the  French 

Congo? 

The  great  Congo  river,  which  includes  in  its  sys¬ 
tem  over  10,000  miles  of  navigable  streams,  waters 
an  area  of  1,300,000  square  miles  in  extent,  and  is 
second  in  volume  of  water  only  to  the  Amazon. 

13.  What  are  some  of  the  largest  of  the  Congo  tributaries? 

The  Ubangi,  the  Kasai,  the  Sankuru,  the  Kwangu, 
the  Lualuaba,  Lomami  and  Uele,  nearly  all  of 
which  have  themselves  several  navigable  tributaries. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


V 


14.  Which  of  these  larger  tributaries  of  the  Congo  water  the 

territory  of  our  Congo  Mission? 

The  Kasai  and  Sankuru  Rivers,  both  of  which  have 
several  large  navigable  tributaries. 

15.  Just  where  is  the  territory  of  our  Congo  Mission? 

If  we  trace  the  route  ordinarily  taken  by  the  (mis¬ 
sionary  in  reaching  his  field,  beginning  with  the  mouth 


Native  Evangelists  and  Teachers. 

of  the  Congo  and  coming  on  up  as  if  there  were  no 
rapids  to  be  overcome  in  the  river,  we  shall  follow 
its  course  until  we  come  to  Kwamouth,  where  the 
Kasai  empties  into  the  Congo.  Then  following  the 
Kasai  (until  we  come  'to  Basongo  we  are  at  the  very 
apex  of  the  angle  made  by  the  Kasai)  and  Sankuru 
rivers,  which,  speaking  rather  roughly,  form  the  north¬ 
ern  and  western  boundaries  of  our  territory.  That 
territory  takes  in  a  part  of  the  Kasai  for  its  western 
boundary,  while  its  eastern  boundary  is  near  the  Lorn- 
ami  River,  its  southern  boundary  is  near  the  seventh 
parallel  and  its  northern  boundary  is  the  Sankuru 
River.  Altogether  this  territory  contains  over  70,000 
square  miles  and  is  almost  as  large  as  North  and 
South  Carolina  together. 


8  IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


16.  What  about  the  climate  of  this  section? 

The  climate  for  the  most  part  is  the  best  in  the 
Congo,  unless  we  except  that  portion  to  the  southeast. 
At  most  of  our  stations,  the  days  are  hot  but  not  un¬ 
bearable,  while  the  nights  are  generally  cool.  The 
rainfall,  being  well  distributed,  and  the  soil  being 
relatively  fertile,  this  section  is  a  great  food  center 
for  the  rest  of  the  Congo. 

II.  POLITICAL  AND  ECONOMIC  SITUATION. 

1.  What  is  the  size  of  the  Belgian  Congo? 

It  contains  approximately  one  million  square  miles. 

2.  Who  opened  the  Congo  to  the  world  and  when? 

Henry  M.  Stanley  in  his  famous  journey  from  the 
East  Coast  of  Africa  to  the  West  in  1877. 

3.  What  were  some  of  his  achievements  in  this  Congo  re¬ 

gion? 

He  discovered  the  great  Congo  River,  and  Lake  Tang¬ 
anyika,  dividing  the  honor  of  discovering  the  latter 
with  Livingstone;  was  ithe  first  administrator  of  Congo 
affairs  and  put  the  whole  vast  region  on  the  map. 

4.  What  other  men  arc  vitally  connected  with  exploration 

in  the  Congo? 

George  Grenfell,  a  missionary  of  the  Baptist  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  (British),  and  Major  Wissman.  The 
latter  explored  the  Kasai  river  in  1887  and  founded 
Luebo  as  a  trading  post  at  the  head  of  the  Lulua,  one 
of  the  navigable  tributaries  of  the  Kasai. 

5.  After  Stanley’s  explorations,  what  became  of  the  Congo? 

It  was  first  held  by  King  Leopold  II  of  Belgium  as 
a  private  possession,  under  the  name  of  the  Congo  In¬ 
dependent  State,  and  was  later  (in  1908)  taken  over 
as  a  regular  colony  of  the  Belgian  Government. 

6.  What  ivas  the  condition  of  the  natives  under  Leopold 

11,  and  the  cause  largely  instrumental  in  leading 

Belgium  to  take  over  the  country  as  a  regular  col¬ 
ony? 

Under  the  regime  of  Leopold  II  the  natives  were 
treated  with  great  cruelty  and  injustice.  Thousands 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


9 


of  them  lost  their  lives  under  the  system  used  in  mak¬ 
ing  them  labor  in  rubber  and  in  gathering  ivory;  the 
country  was  largely  spoiled  of  its  material  resources; 
and  the  progress  of  missions  and  enlightenment  were 
greatly  hindered.  The  Belgians  themselves  in  large 
numbers  protested,  and  under  the  leadership  of  the 
great  Socialist  Van  derVelde  joined  their  efforts  with 
those  of  other  nations  in  bringing  these  conditions  to 
a  close. 

7.  What  can  he  said  of  the  Belgian  Administration  to-day? 

While  conditions  are  far  from  perfect,  their  main 
difficulties  being  the  matter  of  financing  it  and  secur¬ 
ing  a  sufficient  number  of  native  Belgian  officers  for 
administering  the  affairs  of  their  colony,  the  former 
cruelties  and  atrocities  have  ceased,  and  the  Congo  is 
given  a  wise  and  equitable  government. 

8.  What  of  the  Belgian  attitude  toward  missions? 

Roman  Catholic  missions  receive  the  sanction  and  a 
large  measure  of  support  from  the  Government.  Pro¬ 
testant  missionary  societies  have  grown  in  the  favor 
of  the  Belgian  officials  and  are  accorded  a  measure  of 
liberty  that  is  denied  them  by  France,  and  even  by 
Great  Britain  in  certain  sections.  Our  own  Mission 
has  received  many  favorable  expressions  from  officials 
of  the  Government. 

9.  What  is  the  chief  political  difficulty  that  Protestant  mis¬ 

sions  are  constantly  faced  with? 

The  Great  War  left  the  Belgian  people  largely  sus¬ 
picious  of  Americans  and  British,  especially  of  the  lat¬ 
ter.  Roman  Catholic  priests,  with  their  usual  machina¬ 
tions  and  subtle  propaganda,  are  constantly  at  work 
in  an  effort  to  bring  suspicion  into  the  hearts  of  the 
Belgian  people,  ascribing  political  motives  to  all  Amer¬ 
ican  and  British  missionaries  in  Belgian  and  French 
Congo. 

10.  To  what  extent  has  such  propaganda  succeeded? 

To  the  credit  of  the  Belgian  people,  as  well  as  to  the 
work  of  Dr.  Henri  Anet,  one  of  the  leaders  among  the 
Belgian  Protestants,  it  must  be  said  that  such  propa¬ 
ganda  has  not  seriously  hindered  the  work  of  the 
Protestants  in  Congo.  The  Colonial  Minister,  Monsieur 


10 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


Francke,  a  man  of  broad  views  and  common  sense,  him¬ 
self  took  up  the  defense  of  the  Protestants  in  one  un¬ 
warranted  attack  from  a  Belgian  Roman  Catholic  hier¬ 
arch  launched  in  the  Belgian  Chamber. 

11.  How  does  Belgium,  with  her  population  of  less  than  eight 

millions  govern  so  large  an  area  as  the  Congo  with 

its  population  estimated  at  more  than  fifteen  mil¬ 
lions  ? 

She  has  a  Governor-General  appointed  by  Parlia¬ 
ment  and  responsible  to  the  Minister  of  the  Colony. 
The  Colony  is  divided  into  twenty-two  administrative 
districts,  with  a  Commissioner  over  each  district;  these 
larger  districts  being  subdivided  into  “territories,”  with 
an  Administrator  over  each  territory.  These  Commis¬ 
sioners  and  Administrators  with  their  agents  and  as¬ 
sistants  are  all  white  men,  mostly  Belgians.  The  na¬ 
tive  chiefs  are  then  given  rule  over  their  clans,  their 
rights  so  far  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  civilization 
and  enlightenment  being  respected  to  the  point  where 
a  native  chief  has  almost  absolute  power  over  his  sub¬ 
jects.  These  chiefs  act  as  intermediaries  between  their 
subjects  and  the  Belgian  Government.  Under  the  white 
officers  there  are  more  than  20,000  native  soldiers  and 
police,  probably  as  many  as  30,000  since  the  Great  War. 

12.  What  is  the  official  language  of  the  Colony? 

French  is  the  official  language,  though  Flemish  is 
also  recognized  and  occurs  on  nearly  all  official  docu¬ 
ments  and  stationery  of  the  Government. 

13.  How  do  the  missionaries  and  others  usually  refer  to  the 

Belgian  Government  in  Congo? 

As  the  State.  This  is  largely  a  relic  of  the  older 
days  when  the  Congo  was  known  as  the  Congo  Inde¬ 
pendent  State. 

14.  What  are  some  of  the  principal  towns  of  the  Congo? 

Boma,  the  present  capital,  situated  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Congo  River;  Banana,  an  important  wireless 
station  at  the  mouth  of  that  river;  Matadi,  the  prin¬ 
cipal  port  for  ocean-going  vessels,  terminus  of  one  of 
the  railways;  Thysville,  half-way  stop  on  the  Lower- 
Congo  Railway,  where  passengers  always  spend  the 
night  during  the  journey  up  to  Kinshasa;  Kinshasa, 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


11 


an  important  commercial  center,  which  will  shortly  be¬ 
come  the  capital  of  the  colony  and  which  already  occu¬ 
pies  one  of  the  foremost  positions  as  a  manufacturing 
and  trading  center;  Stanleyville,  at  the  head  of  navi¬ 
gation  on  the  Congo  River,  terminus  of  another  rail¬ 
way;  Coquilhatville,  Lusambo,  Luebo,  Tchikapa,  Al¬ 
bertville  and  Elizabethville,  the  last  being  at  present 
the  largest  town  in  Congo  and  containing  from  two  to 
three  thousand  white  people. 

15.  Why  cannot  ocean-going  vessels  go  farther  than  Matadi? 

Because  between  Matadi  and  Leopoldville,  for  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  over  230  miles  the  river  is  filled  with  dan¬ 
gerous  cataracts  and  waterfalls  rendering  it  impossible 
for  even  a  small  canoe  to  live  in  the  current. 

16.  What  most  peculiar  fact  about  the  physical  formation  of 

the  Continent  makes  such  cataracts  unavoidable? 

The  Continent  is  formed  sctmewhat  in  steps  with  a 
rapid  descent  as  the  West  Coast  is  approached.  Just 
above  the  cataracts  the  river  widens  out  into  an  enor¬ 
mous  inland  lake  called  Stanley  Pool. 

17.  How  is  the  difficulty  created  by  the  cataracts  on  the  lower 

reaches  of  the  Congo  now  surmounted? 

By  a  railway  which  goes  over  a  large  part  of  the 
old  caravan  trail  from  Matadi  to  Leopoldville,  a  distance 
of  about  230  miles.  This  railway,  being  a  small  nar¬ 
row  gauge  road  over  a  rough  and  not  very  well-con¬ 
structed  track,  though  forming  a  vast  improvement 
over  the  old  caravan  route,  when  it  took  from  ten  days 
to  two  weeks  to  travel  from  Matadi  to  Leopoldville,  will 
be  further  improved  in  the  next  few  years.  Ocean  ves¬ 
sels  discharge  their  cargoes  at  Matadi,  this  road  car¬ 
ries  them  to  Kinshasa,  from  whence  the  river  steamers 
take  them  to  all  points  on  the  Congo,  Kasai  and  other 
rivers. 

18.  What  other  line  has  been  long  projected  and  on  which 

construction  has  already  commenced? 

The  line  known  as  the  “Lower-Congo  to  Katanga 
Railway,”  a  line  from  Kinshasa  to  Bukama,  the  pre¬ 
sent  terminus  of  the  Cape-to-Cairo  Railway.  Construc¬ 
tion  has  already  compienced  at  Ilebo,  near  our  station 
at  Luebo  and  from  the  terminus  at  Bukama,  these  two 


12 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


sections  to  be  joined  within  the  next  few  years  so  that 
copper,  agricultural  products  and  probably  coal  can 
be  carried  from  the  Katanga  in  the  southeast  to  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  on  the  west. 

19.  How  many  miles  of  railway  has  the  Congo  at  present? 

Less  than  1,500  miles  at  present,  but  probably  in 
the  near  future  there  will  be  in  the  neighborhood  of 
2,000  (miles. 

20.  What  other  improved  means  of  transportation  was  in¬ 

augurated  shortly  after  the  War? 

Aeroplane  routes,  which  carry  the  mail  from  the 
Lower  Congo  to  important  points  up  the  Congo  River. 

21.  What,  still  further,  in  the  way  of  communication  with 

the  outside  world  has  the  Congo? 

Large  wireless  stations  are  located  at  important 
points  in  the  Congo.  In  the  Kasai  district  there  are 
stations  at  both  Lusambo  and  Charlesville.  A  mes¬ 
sage  from  Luebo,  Mutoto,  or  Lusambo  will  reach  any 
destination  in  America,  providing  nothing  hinders  its 
progress  within  less  than  a  week  or  not  more  than  a 
week  after  its  despatch. 

22.  What  may  be  said  further  in  regard  to  the  development 

of  the  Congo  in  recent  years? 

The  development  of  the  Congo  in  the  past  five  years 
has  been  greater  than  the  development  of  any  previous 
ten  years.  Large  mineral  and  diamond  deposits  have 
been  discovered  and  opened;  plantations  have  begun 
exporting  coffee,  cocoa,  cotton  and  many  other  tropical 
products;  and  exportations  of  palm-nuts  and  palm-oil 
have  quadrupled. 

23.  What  are  the  principal  exports  to-day? 

Palm-oil;  palm-kernels;  some  rubber,  though  noth¬ 
ing  like  so  much  as  formerly;  large  quantities  of  cop¬ 
per;  diamonds,  both  in  the  form  of  uncut  gems  and 
commercial  stones;  coffee,  cocoa,  castor-beans,  and  cot¬ 
ton;  ivory;  gold;  some  hides;  copal  for  making  var¬ 
nishes;  with  the  resources  from  which  these  products 
are  being  obtained  scarcely  yet  touched. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


13 


24.  What  may  be  said  of  the  economic  importance  of  Africa 
in  general  and  of  the  Congo  in  particular? 

As  the  sources  of  food  supply  and  especially  as  the 
sources  of  raw  materials  for  manufactures  in  other 
countries  become  more  and  more  exhausted,  the  world 
must  turn  to  Africa  for  a  part  of  these  at  least.  The 
Congo,  occupying  as  it  does  the  central  portion  of  the 
Continent  and  containing  one  of  the  finest  inland  water¬ 
ways  of  the  world  besides  having  large  mineral  depos¬ 
its  and  fertile  lands,  will  attract  the  attention  of  Eu¬ 
ropean  and  American  capitalists. 


(Left)  Musonguela,  pastor  at  Mutoto.  (Right)  Kabonga  Moses, 

pastor  at  Lusambo. 


25.  What  has  already  taken  place  in  Congo  with  reference 
to  its  diamond  mines? 

American  and  Belgian  capitalists  have  financed  a  big 
undertaking,  which  has  developed  immense  works  near 
Luebo  at  Tchikapa,  whence  beautiful  gems  are  ex¬ 
ported;  also  at  Lukalenge,  where  commercial  diamonds 
in  large  quantities  are  being  exported.  These  mines 
are  being  worked  by  native  laborers  drawn  from  every 
section  of  the  Kasai  and  Lomami  Districts,  where  our 
Mission  is  working,  hundreds  of  young  men  who  for- 


14 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


merly  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  white  man  being 
thrown  into  intimate  and  not  very  healthful  contact 
with  him  at  these  large  mining  centers. 

26.  What  material  improvements  have  followed  in  the  wake 

of  these  developments? 

Besides  the  railways  already  mentioned,  there  are 
many  motor  roads  being  built  throughout  this  whole 
section,  the  automobile  and  the  motor  truck  being  used 
to  some  extent  to  replace  the  former  methods  of  travel 
and  transport. 

27.  Who  forms  the  link  between  the  source  of  supply  and 

the  European  markets? 

While  the  white  man  must  direct  the  development, 
the  native  has  always  supplied  and  will  continue  to 
supply  the  necessary  labor  for  mining,  growing  the 
crops,  running  the  trains  and  steamers,  and  loading 
the  ocean  vessels  for  Europe;  thus,  the  native  is  the 
main  link  in  the  chain  between  the  demand  for  raw 
materials  from  Africa  and  the  supply. 

28.  What  is  the  moral  and  social  effect  on  the  native  of  the 

sudden  transformations  wrought  by  modern  com¬ 
mercial  and  economic  development? 

The  native  brought  from  his  simple  and  primitive  en¬ 
vironment  into  contact  with  white  civilization  without 
Christ,  thrown  with  natives  frdm  other  sections  where 
the  vices  of  the  white  man.  have  brought  him  more  or 
less  into  contempt,  together  with  the  evils  that  follow 
in  the  train  of  high  wages  and  European  trade- 
stores,  has  been  transformed  from  a  docile,  pliable 
sort  of  an  individual  into  one  of  rather  a  different  char¬ 
acter,  less  easy  to  reach,  filled  with  wrong  conceptions 
of  what  it  is  to  be  civilized,  and  in  many  cases  com¬ 
pletely  immoral. 

29.  What  must  the  church  do  in  this  situation? 

It  must  hasten  to  reach  and  mold  these  people  in 
its  own  mold  before  they  become  so  hardened  to  the 
call  of  the  gospel  that  it  will  take  double  the  effort  to 
reach  them.  The  next  ten  years  of  the  Congo  Mission 
will  probably  decide  one  way  or  the  other  which  must 
win — commercialism  or  Christ? 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


15 


III.  FLORA  AND  FAUNA  OF  THE  CONGO. 

1.  What  animals  are  to  be  found  in  the  Congo ? 

From  a  casual  visit,  or  judging  simply  by  appear¬ 
ances,  one  would  feel  that  animal  life  in  Congo  is 
conspicuous  by  its  absence,  yet  the  Congo  Museum  in 
Brussels  contains  stuffed  specimens  and  the  Antwerp 
Zoological  Gardens  contain  live  specimens  of  the  fol¬ 
lowing  animals:  lions,  elephants,  gorillas,  zebras,  hip¬ 
popotami,  leopards,  many  kinds  of  antelope,  many  spe¬ 
cies  of  monkeys,  buffaloes,  crocodiles  and  other  water 
animals,  besides  many  varieties  of  birds,  reptiles  and 
fish. 

2.  What  of  the  animal  life  in  the  vicinity  of  our  Mission 

stations? 

In  coming  up  the  rivers  either  to  Luebo  or  to  Lusam- 
bo  one  sees  many  hippopotami  and  crocodiles,  besides 
various  waterfowl  and  perhaps  a  distant  herd  of  buf¬ 
faloes.  Around  Bulape  elephants  are  to  be  found.  At 
/Bibanga,  elephants,  buffaloes,  antelopes  and  wild  hogs 
abound.  Monkeys  of  various  types  and  species  are 
found  in  nearly  every  forest.  Lions  have  come  into 
the  vicinity  of  Mutoto  within  the  past  four  years  on 
two  different  occasions,  while  Bibanga  is  not  far  from 
the  lion  country. 

3.  What  of  the  reptiles? 

Lizards  of  several  species,  the  common  toad,  iguanas 
and  chameleons  are  found  around  most  of  the  stations; 
serpents  of  a  more  or  less  harmless  character,  besides 
at  least  two  different  varieties  of  vipers  or  adders  occur 
around  some  of  the  stations,  though  deaths  from  them 
are  almost  non-occurrent;  centipedes  and  scorpions  are 
also  seen  quite  frequently. 

4.  What  domestic  animals  and  fowls  has  the  native? 

The  natives  have  goats,  sheep,  dogs,  chickens,  ducks 
and  pigeons. 

5.  What  domestic  animals  have  been  introduced? 

Some  cattle,  hogs  and  donkeys  besides  various  fowls 
such  as  chickens,  pigeons  and  peacocks. 


16 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


6.  Do  cattle  thrive  in  the  Congo ? 

In  certain  parts  they  thrive  very  well  indeed,  while 
in  others  they  do  not.  At  Bibanga  especially  they 
seem  to  thrive  very  well. 

7.  What  of  the  native  plant  life  of  the  Congo ? 

One  is  especially  struck  with  the  luxuriant  vegeta¬ 
tion  along  the  banks  of  the  rivers.  The  tangled  pro¬ 
fusion  of  vines  and  creepers  and  trees  in  the  forests 
presents  an  impassable  barrier  to  one  unaccompanied 
with  knife  to  cut  his  way  through.  But  one  will  per¬ 
haps  be  disappointed  in  the  lack  of  wild  flowers  such 
as  might  be  expected  in  a  tropical  country. 

8.  Are  there  many  wild  flowers? 

There  are  many  very  beautiful  and  very  peculiar 
types  of  wild  flowers,  orchids,  lilies,  colored  leaves, 
large,  sweet-pea-like  flowers  growing  on  substantial 
stalks  and  out  in  the  open  plain,  daisies,  coleus,  and 
sweet-perfumed  wild  hyacinths. 

9.  What  about  the  trees? 

Various  kinds  of  acacia,  red  and  white  mahogany, 
eucalyptus  and  other  unnameable  trees  abound.  The 
forests  contain  magnificent  specimens,  and  sometimes 
the  native  “sanga”  or  white  mahogany,  around  which 
the  Baluba  people  build  their  villages,  towers  its  head 
far  into  the  heavens,  but  growing  out  of  the  rela¬ 
tively  bare  plain  with  few  other  trees  for  neighbors. 

10.  In  what  respect  is  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  Congo  a 
boon  to  the  missionary? 

The  animals  supply  the  natives  as  well  as  the  mis¬ 
sionary  with  meat,  the  flowers  are  their  constant  de¬ 
light,  while  some  of  the  most  beautiful  yet  inexpensive 
furniture  has  been  made  from  the  beautiful  woods 
around  their  stations. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


17 


IV.  GENERAL  RELIGIOUS  SITUATION. 

1.  Why  was  Africa  called  the  Dark  Continent  by  Stanley ? 

Because,  perhaps,  it  was  dark  as  to  its  geography 
and  civilization,  and  populated  almost  entirely  by  dark 
peoples. 

2.  What  may  be  said  of  that  darkness  to-day ? 

Though  the  Continent  has  been  explored  frdm  end 
to  end,  though  the  light  of  civilization  has  broken  over 
an  immense  area,  though  the  march  of  civilization  and 
progress  during  the  past  few  decades  has  been  nothing 
short  of  phenomenal,  yet  it  is  still  dark  as  to  its  moral 
night  and  darkest  of  all  the  countries  as  to  its  reli¬ 
gions. 

3.  What  are  the  three  great  factors  that  have  opened  the 

country  to  the  world  and  that  have  greatly  aided 
the  work  of  missions? 

The  explorations,  which  have  resulted  in  discovering 
to  the  world  its  vast  resources;  the  partitioning  among 
the  civilized  powers,  most  of  whom  have  granted  either 
relative  or  absolute  religious  freedom  to  the  natives; 
and  Christian  missions,  which  have  followed  in  the  wake 
of  exploration  and,  in  many  instances,  such  as  in  the 
case  of  Livingstone  and  George  Grenfell,  have  been 
animated  by  Christian  missions. 

4.  Why  should  Africa  be  of  interest  to  students  of  the  Bible? 

Next  to  Palestine,  Africa  forms  the  background  as 
well  as  the  stage  for  many  of  ithe  important  events  in 
the  life  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  being  vitally  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  patriarchs,  the  rise  and  Exodus 
of  the  Children  of  Israel,  the  flight  of  Jeroboam  from 
Solomon  and  part  of  his  training  in  Egypt,  Shishak’s 
invasion,  Zerah’s  invasion  and  with  the  history  of  many 
of  the  prophets.  Palestine  formed  a  buffer  state  be¬ 
tween  Egypt  and  the  Eastern  nations  in  the  “Period 
Between  the  Testaments.”  In  the  New  Testament  we 
have  the  flight  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  who  found  a  refuge 
in  Egypt  from  whence  God  was  “to  call  his  Son”; 
Simon,  the  Cyrenian,  native  of  a  portion  of  Northeast 
Africa,  bears  the  cross  of  Jesus  as  a  fitting  symbol  of 
many  millions  who  have  since  borne  that  Cross  in  fol- 


18 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


lowing  Him  out  of  darkness  into  light;  and  the  Ethio¬ 
pian  Eunuch  in  his  earnestness  for  salvation  uttered  a 
cry  that  has  been  echoed  by  many  thousands  and  mil¬ 
lions  of  his  fellow-Africans  in  their  query,  “How  shall 
I  undersitand  except  some  man  should  guide  me?” 


A  Church  Shed. 

5.  How  is  Africa  also  connected  ivitk  the  history  of  the 

early  Christian  Church? 

It  was  once  the  stronghold  of  Christianity.  Augus¬ 
tine,  the  greatest  expounder  of  Pauline  doctrines  that 
ever  lived,  was  Bishop  of  Hippo  for  thirty-eight  years. 
Athanasius,  a  brilliant  theologian  who  guided  the 
church  through  the  years  of  ancient  “modernism,”  was 
born  at  Alexandria  in  the  third  century  after  Christ, 
and  was  Bishop  of  that  city  in  after  years.  Other 
illustrious  men,  such  as  Origen,  Cyprian,  Tertullian 
and  Clement  were  either  native  of  Africa  or  spent  most 
of  their  theological  lives  there.  It  is  said  that  of  the 
twenty  greatest  names  in  the  Christian  Church  between 
the  years  150  and  400,  more  than  half  belonged  to 
North  Africa. 

6.  What  was  the  chief  characteristic  of  this  church  in  North 

Africa? 

It  was  alive  with  missionary  zeal.  The  first  mis¬ 
sionary  training  school  is  said  to  have  been  founded 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


19 


in  Alexandria  before  200  a.d.  Within  200  years  after 
Pentecost  there  were  900  churches  in  the  section  of 
Africa  bordering  the  Mediterranean  coast. 

7.  What  city  was  the  center  of  Christian  culture  and  in¬ 

fluence? 

Alexandria,  which  was  the  holme  of  illustrious  men; 
which  had  been  the  scene  of  the  translation  of  the 
Greek  Version  of  the  Old  Testament  known  as  the 
Septuagint  in  185  B.C.,  which  had  a  library  of  700,000 
volumes;  and  which  was  to  the  East  what  Rome  was 
to  the  West. 

8.  Who  was  probably  the  bearer  of  the  first  news  of  the 

Saviour  to  Africa? 

The  Ethiopian  Eunuch  who  was  led  to  Christ  by  the 
Evangelist  Philip.  Tradition  has  it  that  six  of  the 
disciples  and  apostles  labored  there,  among  whom 
Evangelist  Mark  was  first,  but  there  is  no  certainty 
in  this  tradition. 

9.  What  change  came  over  the  church  in  North  Africa  in 

later  centuries? 

It  lost  its  character  as  a  missionary  church  and  its 
vision  of  a  world  won  to  Christ.  Its  spiritual  life  be¬ 
came  almost  extinct,  its  leaders  began  endless  and 
bitter  disputations  among  themselves,  until  finally 
in  refusing  to  give  the  gospel  unto  others  they  had 
none  of  it  left  for  themselves. 

10.  What  terrible  scourge  did  God  send  upon  them? 

The  Mohammedan  invasion  which  swept  over  the 
country  in  650  a.d.,  and  brought  the  whole  country  un¬ 
der  the  sway  of  Islam. 

11.  What  African  churches  claim  to  have  remained  true  to 

the  gospel  ant  what  does  this  disprove? 

The  Coptic  and  Abyssinian  Churches,  which,  though 
they  have  a  large  amount  of  superstition  mingled  with 
their  Christianity,  have  retained  some  measure  of  the 
truth  through  the  centuries,  while  the  churches  of 
Greek,  Latin,  and  Jewish  extraction  have  gone  over 
completely  to  Mohammedanism.  This  disproves  the 
theory  that  the  Ethiopian  churches  are  too  unstable  to 
retain  their  Christianity. 


20 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


12.  Who  was  Mohammed ? 

He  was  born  in  Arabia  in  570  a.d.  Entered  the  ser¬ 
vice  of  a  widow,  Khedija,  for  whom  he  travelled  in 
Palestine  and  probably  learned  something  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  and  Christian  religions.  Being  subject  to  epileptic 
fits  and  delicately  constituted,  he  was  fitted  in  a  pe¬ 
culiar  way  to  be  the  propagator  of  a  new  religion.  He 
claimed  that  the  Angel  Gabriel  appeared  to  him  in  a 
cave  directing  him  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  One 
God.  He  began  preaching  in  his  native  town  of  Mecca 
but  was  persecuted  and  forced  to  flee  to  Medina,  this 
flight  (622  a.d.)  being  known  as  the  Hejira.  But  his 
following  grew  until  it  conquered  Arabia  and  a  large 
part  of  Asia  and  Europe,  being  held  back  from  a  still 
greater  dominion  in  Europe  by  Charles  Martel  in  the 
Battle  of  Tours. 

13.  What  is  the  sacred  book  of  the  Mohammedans  and  what 

its  principal  teachings 1 

The  Koran,  published  after  Mohammed’s  death  and 
containing  beside  the  history  of  his  “revelations”  the 
monotheism  as  it  is  stated  by  the  Mohammedans, 
“There  is  no  God  but  Allah  and  Mohammed  is  his 
prophet,”  subordinating  Jesus  Christ  to  Mohaimmed. 
It  proclaims  “Islam”  or  surrender  of  the  will  to  God 
through  fear  of  his  majesty  rather  than  through  love; 
preaches  the  doctrine  of  “Kismet”  or  fatalism;  and 
commands  abstention  from  pork  and  bodily  filth. 

14.  What  are  the  greatest  evils  of  the  religion? 

Besides  its  harsh  conception  of  God  it  encourages 
sensuality  by  holding  out  the  promise  of  a  life  of 
sensuality  in  heaven.  Women  are  mere  chattel  slaves 
and  tools  of  lust,  and  slavery  is  encouraged. 

15.  How  has  it  affected  missions  in  the  Congo? 

While  it  has  affected  certain  missions  in  the  northern 
portion  of  the  Congo  and  has  affected  them  all  indi¬ 
rectly  through  the  slave  traffic,  its  influence  over  the 
natives  in  the  section  being  evangelized  by  our  own 
Mission  is  almost  negligible. 

16.  What  religion,  however,  greatly  hinders  the  work  of 

Protestant  missions  in  the  Congo,  and  how? 

Roman  Catholicism,  which  is  far  more  serious  be¬ 
cause  of  its  claim  to  be  the  only  true  Christian  church 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


21 


and  because  it  actively  opposes  Protestant  work.  It 
endeavors  to  poison  the  minds  of  the  natives  against 
us  by  representing  us  as  spiritual  descendants  of  cer¬ 
tain  monks  whom  they  claim  left  their  own  church  in 
order  to  gratify  their  own  lusts.  But  its  most  baneful 
influence  is  seen  in  the  effort  they  make  to  pervert 
justice  and  bring  Protestant  natives  and  missionaries 
into  suspicion  and  contempt  with  the  Government. 

17.  Does  it  uplift  the  natives? 

In  all  fairness,  we  must  admit  that  the  natives  are 
taught  some  very  useful  arts  and  trades  in  Roman 
Catholic  schools,  especially  where  these  are  in  cctinpe- 
tition  with  Protestant  schools.  On  the  other  hand,  no 
real  change  of  heart  occurs  in  the  majority  of  those 
who  attach  themselves  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  the 
process  being  completed  on  their  learning  a  little  cate¬ 
chism  filled  with  the  worship  of  Mary  and  the  saints 
as  well  as  superstitious  dogmas.  In  most  instances  it 
is  simply  an  interchange  of  the  crucifix  and  rosary  for 
the  fetiches  of  the  natives.  The  truth  of  God  is  al¬ 
most  hidden  beneath  a  great  deal  of  rubbish  which  is 
not  intelligible  to  the  native  mind. 

18.  What  is  the  third  menace  to  Christian  missions  in  the 

Congo? 

The  native  religions  themselves.  These  are  unlike 
the  great  religious  systems  of  the  East  in  that  they 
have  no  ethical  code,  but  actually  countenance  and 
command  certain  things  that  are  forbidden  in  other 
religions.  In  short,  the  religious  life  of  the  native 
who  has  not  come  into  contact  with  foreigners  may  be 
best  described  by  the  first  chapter  of  Romans,  in  which 
is  depicted  the  utter  degradation  of  those  who  have 
lost  God. 

19.  Of  what  does  this  religon  largely  consist? 

Superstition,  which  includes  fetichism  and  devil-wor¬ 
ship.  They  believe  that  God  has  created  the  world 
and  left  it  in  the  hand  of  an  infinite  number  of  devils 
and  spirits  whom  they  must  appease.  “They  pass  the 
time  of  their  sojourning  here  in  fear.” 

20.  What  is  a  fetich? 

A  charm  worn  around  the  neck,  ankles,  wrists,  fore¬ 
head,  or  carried  in  the  hand.  Sometimes  it  is  a  goat's 


22 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


horn  filled  with  cassava  flour,  dirt,  or  other  substance 
especially  recommended  or  sold  by  the  witch-doctor. 
Sometimes  it  is  an  image  of  a  bird  or  animal.  It  is  in 
many  shapes  and  has  many  different  offices,  such  as 
protection  of  life,  bringing  of  wealth,  protection  from 
lightning,  strengthening  the  body,  killing  an  enemy, 
protection  of  crops,  curing  of  sickness,  helping  in  theft 
or  murder,  and  promotion  of  childbirth. 

21.  What  is  a  witch-doctor? 

He  is  the  medicine-man  or  woman  and  priest  of  the 
village,  often  with  more  power  than  the  chief  himself. 
He  can  often  work  tricks  to  deceive  and  thus  his  power 
is  increased.  Of  all  the  contemptible  and  depraved 
beings  he  is  the  worst,  often  causing  innocent  persons 
to  drink  the  poison  cup  or  to  be  slain  by  his  cruel  prac¬ 
tices. 

22.  Give  two  examples  disproving  the  common  theory  of  “in¬ 

nocence  of  the  heathen  ”  and  showing  that  the 

heathen  religions  so  far  from  uplifting  actually  de¬ 
grade  the  native  to  the  level  of  a  beast. 

The  one  example,  out  of  many,  may  be  taken  from 
our  own  section  where  an  important  head-chief  is  liv¬ 
ing  with  his  own  daughter  as  one  of  his  plural 
wives.  The  other  is  taken  from  Rhodesia,  where  the 
chief  Chingango  sacrificed  his  second  son  to  the  heathen 
goddess  Muari  in  an  attempt  to  appease  her  wrath  and 
secure  rain  for  the  crops.  At  his  trial  by  the  British 
Government  it  developed  that  he  had  sacrificed  two 
other  sons  in  a  similar  manner  in  spite  of  the  vigilance 
of  the  authorities  and  the  advanced  state  of  civiliza¬ 
tion  in  Rhodesia. 

23.  What  is  the  fourth  and,  in  many  respects,  the  most  seri¬ 

ous  hindrance  to  Christian  missions? 

The  ungodly  lives  of  white  men  who  throw  all  morals 
to  the  dogs  when  they  go  to  Africa.  Adultery  and 
whiskey  drinking  are  the  two  evils  that  usually  follow 
in  the  train  of  civilization  without  Christ,  and  these 
two  evils  have  reached  their  climax  in  the  Congo. 

24.  What  sad  sights  do  the  missionaries  now  see  in  large 

European  centers? 

Natives  are  becoming  addicted  to  the  habit  of  smok¬ 
ing  cigarettes,  for  which  they  must  often  steal  the 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


23 


money  to  purchase,  gambling  has  grown  very  common, 
and  native  girls  are  selling  their  virtue  both  to  the 
Europeans  and  fellow  natives. 

25.  What,  then,  is  the  only  chance  for  Africa's  redemption? 

“The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  cleanseth  from  all 
sin.”  “For  if  Jesus  Christ  shall  make  you  free,  ye 
shall  be  free  indeed.” 

26.  What  era  began  the  modern  missionary  movement  in 

Africa? 

In  some  respects  we  might  say  the  eighteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  when  Raytmond  Lull  went  to  Tunis  and  labored 
among  the  Mohammedans.  However,  efforts  in  this 
century  were  rather  scattered.  The  real  modern  move¬ 
ment  began  with  the  going  of  Robert  Moffat  in  1817. 

27.  Who  are  some  of  the  most  famous  of  modern  mission¬ 

aries  in  Africa? 

Besides  the  pioneer,  Moffat,  there  were  Livingstone, 
perhaps  the  most  illustrious;  McKay  of  Uganda;  John 
MacKenzie  of  Bechuanaland;  George  Grenfell  of  the 
Congo;  and  along  with  these  must  be  placed  our  own 
Dr.  John  Leighton  Wilson,  Samuel  N.  Lapsley  and  Dr. 
William  Morrison. 

28.  Why  is  Robert  Moffat  famous? 

For  his  wonderful  work  in  South  Africa  where  he 
labored  for  fifty-three  years,  transforming  it  into  a 
highly  civilized  state,  and  for  his  influence  over  Liv¬ 
ingstone  whom  he  led  to  Africa  and  to  whom  he  gave 
his  daughter  Mary  in  marriage. 

29.  Why  is  Livingstone  perhaps  the  greatest  missionary  in 

Africa? 

He  went  to  Africa  in.  1840  and  labored  there  for 
thirty- three  years.  In  this  time  he  made  a  journey 
from  Linyanti  in  South  Central  Africa  to  St.  Paul  da 
Loanda  on  the  West  Coast,  returned  across  the  Con¬ 
tinent  to  the  East  Coast,  discovering  the  course  of  the 
Zambezi  river,  Victoria  Falls,  and  coming  out  at  Quili- 
mane.  He  also  discovered  Lake  Nyassa  and  shares  with 
Stanley  the  discovery  of  Lake  Tanganyika.  Besides 
other  very  important  discoveries  were  made  and  ex¬ 
plorations  in  the  regions  of  Abyssinia  and  Uganda.  But 
all  these  undertakings  were  conceived  only  for  the  pur- 


24 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


pose  of  ridding  the  people  of  slavery  and  opening  the 
country  to  Christian  missions,  which  have  been  ef¬ 
fectually  accomplished. 

30.  Where  and  how  did  he  die? 

At  Chitambo’s  village  in  Ilaia,  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Bangweolo,  May  1,  1873,  he  was  found  cn  his  knees 
praying. 

31.  Who  ivas  John  MacKenzie? 

He  followed  in  the  train  of  Livingstone,  bringing 
most  of  the  territory  that  he  had  explored  under  the 
flag  of  Great  Britain  and  thus  providing  for  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  missionaries  and  the  freedom  from  the  slave- 
trade.  He  also  became  administrator  of  a  large  part 
of  this  country. 

32.  When  did  Alexander  McKay  go  to  Uganda  ayid  how  long 

did  he  stay? 

He  went  in  1878  and  spent  ten  years. 

33.  Wha,t  were  the  results  of  his  labors  and  of  those  who 

followed  him? 

Uganda  is  one  of  the  miracles  of  modern  missions. 
After  only  twenty  years  of  work  the  people  had  built 
twenty-seven  large  churches  and  400  small  ones.  Seven 
hundred  native  teachers  had  been  sent  out;  the  Bible 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  people  of  whom  120,000  had 
learned  to  read  and  write;  and  Uganda  was  also  trans¬ 
formed  into  a  highly  civilized  country. 

34.  What  may  be  said  of  our  own  Dr.  Leighton  Wilson? 

He  went  to  Africa  in  November,  1833,  and  spent 
twenty  years  in  the  Gaboon  on  the  West  Coast.  This 
Mission  was  afterwards  transferred  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  North  (of  which  our  church  was  a  part  when 
Dr.  Wilson  went  out)  to  the  French  Evangelical  So¬ 
ciety.  Dr.  Wilson  became  Secretary  of  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  and  it  was 
largely  through  his  influence  that  this  church  under¬ 
took  their  work  in  the  Congo. 

35.  What  other  missionary  societies  are  at  work  in  the 

Congo? 

The  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  England,  which 
has  stations  reaching  almost  across  the  Continent  and 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


25 


following  along  the  route  of  the  Congo  river;  the 
American  Baptist  Society,  which  occupies  what  is 
known  as  the  Bas-Congo  and  Moyen-Congo;  the  Disci¬ 
ples  of  Christ  Congo  Mission,  which  has  stations  in 
Moyen-Congo  at  Bolenge,  Lotumbe,  Monieka  and  Mon- 
dombe;  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission;  two  missions  of  the 
Methodist  Churches  of  America  (Northern  and  South¬ 
ern)  ;  Heart  of  Africa  Mission;  Africa  Inland  Mission; 


A  Typical  Congregation. 

besides  a  Belgian  Protestant  Mission  and  nine  or  ten 
others.  All  of  these  societies  are  in  entirely  different 
territory  and  working  with  people  of  entirely  different 
language  and  character  from  those  among  whelm  we 
are  working. 

36.  What  plan  of  comity  is  in  force  among  these  various  so¬ 
cieties? 

They  are  nearly  all  members  of  the  Conference  of 
Protestant  Missions,  which  meets  annually  to  discuss 
methods  and  principles  of  missionary  administration, 
and  to  mark  out  territory  to  be  evangelized  by  the  re¬ 
spective  societies.  When  one  society  preempts  a  cer¬ 
tain  territory  and  language  the  others  recognize  this 
right  and  thus  is  prevented  a  large  amount  of  duplica¬ 
tion. 


26 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


V.  OUR  CONGO  MISSION.  ITS  FOUNDING 
AND  EARLY  HISTORY. 

1.  What  is  the  official  title  of  our  Congo  Mission ? 

It  is  known  in  Congo  as  the  American  Presbyterian 
Congo  Mission. 

2.  What  other  missions  are  adjacent  to  ours ? 

The  Southern  Methodist  or,  as  it  is  officially  known, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Congo  Mission;  the  Mennonite 
or  Congo  Inland  Mission;  the  Wescott  Brothers  (Mis¬ 
sion  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren  in  England)  ;  and  sev¬ 
eral  other  missions  have  individual  stations  in  territory 
adjacent  to  ours. 

3.  Who  founded  our  Mission  and  when? 

It  was  founded  by  Samuel  N.  Lapsley  of  Alabama 
and  Wm.  H.  Sheppard  of  Virginia,  the  latter  being  a 
young  colored  man  who  had  just  graduated  from  Still¬ 
man  Institute.  They  set  sail  in  February  1890. 

4.  Tell  something  of  their  voyage. 

They  first  went  to  England,  where  they  purchased 
supplies  and  arranged  with  one  of  the  London  firms  to 
handle  our  business.  Through  a  very  fortunate  cir¬ 
cumstance  Mr.  Lapsley  met  a  Christian  business  man 
on  the  steamer  sailing  to  England  and  secured  from 
him  an  introduction  to  another  English  gentleman,  Mr. 
Robert  Whyte,  a  member  of  the  English  Presbyterian 
Church.  Mr.  Whyte  being  senior  partner  in  the  firm  of 
Whyte,  Ridsdale  and  Company,  and  vitally  interested 
in  the  work  of  missions  in  Africa,  readily  consented  to 
handle  all  our  business.  For  many  years  the  connec¬ 
tion  between  our  Mission  and  this  firm  has  continued, 
Mr.  Whyte  being  considered  as  much  a  part  of  the 
Mission  as  any  missionary. 

After  some  time  in  England  and  Belgium  arranging 
other  business  and  diplomatic  details,  these  two  young 
men  set  sail  from  Holland  on  the  “S.  S.  Afrikaan,” 
which  took  about  one  month  to  reach  the  mouth  of 
the  Congo  River. 

5.  After  reaching  the  Congo,  what  did  they  do? 

In  those  days  there  was  no  railway  from  Matadi  to 
Leopoldville,  so  they  travelled  this  distance  of  230  miles 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


27 


by  hammock.  But  first  they  had  to  arrange  for  por¬ 
ters  to  handle  their  supplies  and  secure  an  agent  at 
Matadi  to  forward  all  future  shipments.  They  spent 
some  time  at  Matadi  arranging  for  this  work  and  in 
securing  information  and  advice,  after  which  they  left 
for  Leopoldville. 

6.  In  what  statesmanlike  way  did  Lapsley  and  Sheppard 

go  about  the  work  of  founding  our  Mission? 

Besides  searching  carefully  all  available  maps  of  the 
territory,  they  actually  traversed  a  large  part  of  this 
territory,  going  up  the  Congo  river  for  a  visit  to  Dr. 
Grenfell,  then  located  at  Bolobo  of  the  Baptist  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  (British).  They  returned  from  Bolobo 
and  made  a  dangerous  and  difficult  canoe  trip  up  the 
Congo,  then  into  the  Kasai,  and  then  into  the  Kwangu 
and  Kwilu  Rivers,  which  converge  into  one  stream 
emptying  into  the  Kasai. 

They  decided  at  first  on  Boleke,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Kwangu,  but  in  some  way  God  changed  their  plans 
and  led  them  to  descend  the  river  and  return  to  Leo¬ 
poldville  for  another  try  farther  up  the  Kasai. 

7.  What  course  was  finally  decided  upon? 

They  decided  to  make  a  steamer  trip  from  Leopold¬ 
ville  to  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Lulua  River,  near 
Luebo,  then  a  trading  post.  They  secured  passage  for 
themselves,  their  supplies,  and  several  native  assistants 
on  the  little  river  steamer,  “Florida,”  and  made  an  ex¬ 
ceedingly  thrilling,  and,  in  many  respects,  a  dangerous 
voyage  to  Luebo.  The  distance  from  Leopoldville  is 
about  800  miles. 

8.  What  did  they  find  at  Luebo? 

They  found  a  ready  welcome  among  the  natives  and 
a  most  beautiful  site  for  a  station.  Luebo  is  on  a 
high  plateau,  almost  1,700  feet  above  sea-level,  situated 
on  the  Lulua  River  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Luebo  River. 
The  Lulua  River  is  navigable  up  to  this  point  for  most 
of  the  year,  that  is  for  steamers  like  the  “Lapsley”; 
and  steamers  smaller  than  the  “Lapsley”  make  regular 
trips  up  and  down  the  river  to  Basongo  even  during 
the  dry  season. 


28 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


9.  What  were  the  first  steps  taken  by  the  missionaries ? 

The  site  for  the  station  was  cleared  and  carefully 
charted,  several  small  houses  were  built,  and  school 
was  commenced  by  using  the  ground  and  sticks  in  lieu 
of  blackboard  and  chalk.  Mr.  Lapsley  made  a  trip  to 
Luluabourg  in  quest  of  a  site  for  a  second  station,  show¬ 
ing  that  somehow  God  was  directing  him  towards  the 
thickly  populated  interior;  and  our  missionaries  gained 
the  confidence  of  the  natives  from  the  very  start. 

10.  What  sad  ending  have  we  to  the  first  chapter  of  our 

Mission  history? 

Mr.  Lapsley  had  to  go  down  river  to  see  the  Governor- 
General  in  regard  to  a  clear  title  for  the  site  chosen. 
He  was  successful  in  his  errand  and  was  on  his  return 
journey  when  taken  ill  at  Underhill,  near  Matadi.  Worn 
by  constant  travels  and  exposures,  physical  hardships 
that  were  too  much  for  his  frail  constitution,  he  suc¬ 
cumbed  to  an  attack  of  hematuric  fever.  He  had  la¬ 
bored  in  Africa  for  a  little  more  than  a  year,  but  had 
founded  one  of  the  most  remarkable  missions  in  the 
world.  He  died  on  the  26th  of  March  1892,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-six  years,  as  truly  a  martyr  of  the  Cross  as 
any  that  ever  suffered  for  Christ’s  sake. 

11.  Who  soon  relieved  the  brave  Sheppard,  who  stood  by  his 

post  during  these  severe  trials? 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adamson  of  the  Congo  Balolo  Mission 
joined  the  Mission  in  the  beginning  of  1892,  and  in  the 
latter  part  of  that  year  four  new  recruits  came.  These 
were  Rev.  Drv  D.  W.  Snyder  and  wife,  and  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  Arthur  Rowbotham. 

12.  Name  some  of  the  early  missionaries  who  followed  later. 

Four  colored  workers  joined  the  Mission  in  1894: 
Mrs.  Sheppard,  Rev.  H.  P.  Hawkins,  and  Misses  Maria 
Fearing  and  Lillian  Thomas.  Later  came  Rev.  S.  P. 
Verner,  Rev.  J.  E.  Phipps  (col.),  Rev.  W.  M.  Morrison, 
Rev.  J.  S.  Crowley  and  Rev.  L.  C.  Vass. 

13.  How  did  the  Sunday  Schools  help  the  Mission? 

By  sending  a  small  steamer,  the  “S.  N.  Lapsley,” 
to  carry  supplies  and  missionaries  up  the  river. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


29 


14.  What  disaster  overtook  this  boat? 

She  was  capsized  in  the  Congo  river  in  1904,  drown¬ 
ing  Rev.  H.  C.  Slaymaker  and  over  twenty  of  the 
native  crew.  Rev.  Motte  Martin  narrowly  escaped  and 
so  did  the  captain,  Rev.  L.  C.  Vass. 

15.  How  was  the  church  at  home  affected  by  this  great  loss, 

and  what  was  the  result? 

It  was  a  great  shock  to  the  whole  church,  which  im¬ 
mediately  set  out  to  secure  funds  for  the  present 
“Lapsley.”  As  a  result  the  new  boat  was  built  at 
four  times  the  cost  of  the  first  steamer  and  with  far 
more  conveniences  and  carrying  power.  She  was  com¬ 
pleted  in  1906  and  is  now  an  indispensable  blessing 
to  the  Mission. 

16.  What  tribes  did  the  first  missionaries  find  at  Luebo? 

The  Bakete  tribe,  subjects  of  the  Bakuba  king, 
Lukengu,  and  a  scattering  of  other  tribes  who  had 
been  brought  there  as  slaves. 

17.  What  can  you  say  of  the  Bakete? 

They  are  small,  degenerate,  filthy,  and  have  many 
degrading  customs  that  are  absent  in  the  better  tribes. 
They  were  also  rather  unresponsive  to  the  gospel. 

18.  How  did  God  open  up  new  and  better  territory? 

Thousands  of  Baluba  and  Bena  Lulua  moved  in,  until 
the  population  increased  from  10  to  10,000  in  ten 
years.  These  being  a  far  superior  people  in  intelli¬ 
gence  and  character  and  representing  more  numerous 
tribes,  gave  the  missionaries  a  better  chance  to  evan¬ 
gelize  the  interior,  especially  because  of  their  eagerness 
for  the  gospel. 

19.  What  change,  therefore,  was  made  in  the  policy  of  the 

Mission  ? 

True  to  the  (Bible  precedent  of  working  along  the 
lines  of  least  resistance,  they  translated  all  the  hymn 
books,  Bibles,  and  school  books  into  the  language 
of  the  Baluba  and  Lulua,  a  language  spoken  (with 
few  tribal  changes)  by  both  these  tribes  and  called, 
therefore,  Buluba-Lulua. 


30 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


20.  What  missionary  reduced  this  language  to  writing? 

Dr.  Morrison,  who  wrote  a  large,  comprehensive 
Grammar  of  the  language  besides  a  “Story  of  the 
Bible,”  several  readers  for  the  native  schools;  and 
who  also  translated  a  large  part  of  the  Bible  into 
this  language. 

21.  What  missionary  cornpleted  the  work  of  translation  which 

Dr.  Morrison  laid  down? 

Rev.  T.  C.  Vinson,  whose  translations  of  the  New 
Testament  and  part  of  the  Old  Testament  have  al¬ 
ready  been  published  and  who  has  recently  submitted 
the  rest  of  the  Bible  for  publication. 

22.  What  other  text-books  and  literature  have  the  mission¬ 

aries  in  this  language? 

jBesides  the  Bible,  they  have  charts,  primers  and 
readers  for  the  schools,  a  text-book  on  physiology  and 
hygiene,  a  French  book  for  first  studies,  catechisms 
for  instruction  of  the  catechumens  or  inquirers  for 
baptism,  several  text-books  in  use  among  the  students 
for  the  ministry,  Sunday-school  lessons,  many  tracts, 
and  several  books  of  minor  importance. 

23.  What  may  be  said  further  of  the  language  of  the  Baluba- 

Lulua? 

It  is  one  of  the  (most  widely  used  Bantu  languages, 
being  a  combination  of  the  several  different  dialects,  is 
known  over  many  thousands  of  square  miles,  and  is 
destined,  in  the  opinion  of  missionaries  who  have  stu¬ 
died  the  question,  to  be  the  foundation  for  the  final 
language  of  millions  of  natives.  This,  of  course,  gives 
a  most  wonderful  opportunity  to  the  missionaries  to 
evangelize  a  larger  area  than  ever. 

24.  How  many  years  did  our  missionaries  labor  before  any¬ 

one  was  brought  to  Christ  at  Luebo? 

For  five  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  seven  young 
men  and  women  finished  their  course  of  instruction  and 
were  baptized. 

25.  Why  was  it  necessary  to  wait  so  long? 

It  has  always  been  the  custom  of  the  Mission  to 
train  the  people  well  in  a  catechumen  class,  where  they 
are  instructed  not  only  in  the  plan  of  salvation,  but  in 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


31 


the  principal  teachings  of  God’s  Word.  After  com¬ 
pleting  the  catechism  they  are  then  put  on  proba¬ 
tion  until  they  give  evidence  that  their  lives  are  con¬ 
sistently  Christian. 

26.  What  was  the  name  of  the  second  station,  and  when  was 
it  founded ? 

Ibanche,  founded  in  1897  by  Drs.  Morrison  and  Shep¬ 
pard  at  a  village  just  thirty-five  miles  northwesit 


A  Village  Palaver. 

of  Luebo.  This  site  was  chosen  because  the  mission¬ 
aries  were  refused  a  site  farther  in  the  heart  of  the 
country,  and  had  to  settle  on  the  edge  of  it. 

27.  What  was  the  attitude  of  the  Bakuba,  and  especially 

Lukengu? 

The  Bakuba,  who  are  a  very  conservative  people, 
did  not  want  the  missionaries.  They  claimed  that 
the  king  (who  is  called  The  Lukengu  just  as  we  call 
the  rulers  of  Egypt  The  Pharaohs) ,  did  not  want  white 
men  in  his  country. 

28.  What  disaster  overtook  the  Mission  again  in  1904,  the 

same  year  as  the  loss  of  the  Lapsley? 

Ibanche  was  burned  to  the  ground  and  the  mission¬ 
aries  had  to  flee  for  their  lives. 


32 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


29.  Did  the  missionaries  abandon  the  work  of  reaching  the 

Bakuba? 

No.  They  renewed  their  efforts  and  the  Bakuba 
people  became  more  friendly.  Claiming  that  he  had 
not  intended  to  destroy  the  station  of  the  Mission  but 
only  the  homes  of  the  other  white  men,  ithe  Bakuba 
king  helped  them  to  restore  Ibanche,  so  that  it  was 
even  more  beautiful  than  before. 

30.  What  tribal  peculiarity  and  what  circumstances  pre¬ 

vented  the  missionaries  from  more  aggressive  work 

among  the  Bakuba ? 

The  Bakuba  hold  all  other  tribes  in  contempt,  so 
when  the  Baluba  and  Lulua  natives  came  in  large 
numbers,  they  stopped  coming  to  the  school  and  church 
services.  To  obviate  this,  for  a  long  time  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  maintained  two  entirely  different  services, 
one  in  the  language  of  the  Baluba  and  Lulua  and 
the  other  in  the  language  of  the  Bakuba. 


VI.  THE  EARLY  MISSIONARIES  AND  THEIR 

WORK. 

1.  What  became  of  some  of  the  earliest  missionary  pioneers? 

Mrs.  Adamson  having  died  shortly  after  they  reached 
Luebo,  Mr.  Adamson  returned  to  his  native  Scotland. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Sheppard,  the  foiimer  having  served  in 
Congo  for  nearly  twenty  years,  became  associated  in  the 
work  of  Rev.  John  Little  in  Louisville,  Ky.  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  Arthur  Rowbotham  were  compelled  for  reasons  of 
health  to  relinquish  the  work  in  Africa  for  a  pastorate 
in  Roanoke,  Va.  Mrs.  Crowley  was  injured  in  a  ham¬ 
mock  borne  by  native  porters  and  with  her  husband 
became  associated  with  the  work  of  home  missions 
in  Wilmington  Presbytery,  North  Carolina.  Several 
others,  among  them  Rev.  S.  P.  Verner,  Rev.  J.  E. 
Phipps,  and  Rev.  H.  P.  Hawkins  also  retired  from  the 
work. 

2.  What  of  Dr.  Snyder  and  his  work  in  Congo? 

Dr.  Snyder  gave  nearly  ten  years  to  the  early  work 
of  the  Mission,  doing  medical  and  evangelistic  work 
from  1894  until  he  was  forced  by  reasons  of  health 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


33 


to  retire  from  the  work  in  1902.  He  was  much  be¬ 
loved  by  all  his  fellow  missionaries  and  by  the  natives, 
some  of  the  older  natives  still  speaking  of  their 
“Nganga  Buka”  and  his  work  for  them. 

Dr.  Snyder’s  sufferings  for  the  Congo  were  severe. 
On  their  first  voyage  to  America,  his  first  wife,  Mrs. 
Mae  Snyder,  was  buried  at  Leopoldville  after  finish¬ 
ing  the  first  lap  of  the  journey  in  quest  of  better 
health.  Dr.  Snyder  married  again  and  brought  his 
second  wife  to  Congo.  Again  they  started  for  home, 
this  time  their  little  one  born  at  Luebo  being  in  very 
frail  condition.  Just  as  the  steamer  arrived  in  Ant¬ 
werp  the  little  one  was  gathered  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Saviour,  the  grief-stricken  parents  being  far  from 
home  and  the  warm  Christian  influences  to  which  they 
had  been  accustomed. 

After  his  retirement,  Dr.  Snyder  became  pastor  of 
several  churches  in  the  Nonih  and  died  while  pastor 
of  the  Huguenot  Reformed  Church  on  Staten  Island, 
New  York. 

3.  What  became  of  Rev.  L.  C.  Vass? 

Mr.  Yass,  after  many  years  of  faithful  service  as 
captain  on  the  “Lapsley,”  became  pastor  of  churches 
in  Tennessee  and  Georgia. 

4.  What  two  faithful  colored  women  have  left  an  indelible 

impress  on  the  lives  of  the  native  women  in  Congo? 

Miss  Maria  Fearing  and  Mrs.  DeYampert,  nee  Miss 
Lillian  Thomas.  For  many  years  they  were  in  charge 
of  the  Girls’  Home  at  Luebo,  teaching  and  training 
many  of  these  girls  who  became  the  wives  of  evan¬ 
gelists  or  Christian  mothers  in  the  homes  of  others 
than  evangelists.  Some  of  their  former  pupils  are  now 
raising  a  second  generation  of  Christian  mothers. 

5.  Who  are  some  of  the  either  missionaries  who  tvere  asso¬ 

ciated  with  the  earlier  days? 

Between  1902  and  1906  there  came  to  the  field  in 
Congo  the  following  recruits:  Rev.  L.  A.  DeYampert, 
who  retired  about  1915;  Miss  Althea  Brown,  who  was 
married  to  Rev.  A.  L.  Edmiston  shortly  after  the  lat¬ 
ter  reached  the  field;  Rev.  Motte  Martin,  who  almost 
lost  his  life  in  the  capsizing  of  the  first  “Lapsley”; 
Rev.  A.  A.  Rochester,  a  native  of  Jamaica  and  a 


34 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


graduate  of  Stillman  Institute;  Rev.  J.  McC.  Sieg, 
now  retired;  and  Mr.  Wm.  Scott  of  Glasgow. 

6.  Of  these  pioneers,  who  are  now  on  the  field ? 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Edmiston,  Rev.  Motte  Martin  and 
Rev.  A.  A.  Rochester. 

7.  How  many  missionaries  have  died  on  the  field  since  the 

founding  of  the  Mission? 

Six  missionaries  have  died  within  thirty-one  years, 
while  more  than  one  hundred  have  been  sent  to  the 
field  altogether. 

8.  Give  a  short  sketch  of  Dr.  Morrison' s  life. 

Born  ait  Lexington,  Va.,  November  10,  1867.  Edu¬ 
cated  in  the  schools  of  Lexington  and  later  graduated 
from  Washington  and  Lee  University  of  that  place. 
Immediately  upon  his  graduation  from  the  Univer¬ 
sity,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he  taught  for  six 
years  at  Segrcy,  Ark.  During  that  period  of  teaching 
he  gave  himself  to  the  ministry  and  entered  the  Pres¬ 
byterian  Theological  Seminary  at  Louisville,  Ky., 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1896.  During  his  Semi¬ 
nary  course  he  became  impressed  with  the  need  in 
Africa  through  the  reading  of  an  article  in  The  Mis¬ 
sionary,  written  by  one  of  the  Luebo  (missionaries  call¬ 
ing  for  help;  gave  himself  to  the  work,  sailed  in  1896, 
and  began  his  work  in  the  Congo.  His  wonderful  lin¬ 
guistic  talents  caused  him  to  be  set  aside  for  the  work 
of  reducing  the  language  of  the  Baluba  and  Lulua  to 
writing,  and  this  he  did  in  one  of  the  most  concise  and 
accurate  grammars  of  the  Bantu  language.  For  twenty 
years  he  labored  in  the  Congo,  translating  not  only 
the  grammar  of  the  Buluba-Lulua  language,  but  sev¬ 
eral  readers,  Sunday-school  leaflets,  and  a  “Story  of 
the  Bible,”  which  gave  a  general  idea  of  the  historical 
portions  of  the  Bible  as  well  as  paraphrases  of  the 
Epistles.  His  long  fight  for  the  rights,  religious  and 
political,  of  the  natives  as  well  as  his  intimate  knowl¬ 
edge  of  native  affairs  made  him  one  of  the  most  con¬ 
spicuous  missionaries  in  Africa  during  his  genera¬ 
tion,  and  brought  him  into  prominence  with  British 
and  Belgian  officials.  He  was  distinctly  the  leading 
spirit  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  the  younger  mis¬ 
sionaries  reverencing  him  not  only  as  a  spiritual  father 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


35 


but  as  a  consecrated  Christian  gentleman,  whose  coun¬ 
sel  was  always  wise  and  thoroughly  thought  out  be¬ 
forehand.  In  brief,  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  mis¬ 
sionary  statesmen  that  our  church  has  produced.  (For 
an  accurate,  interesting  and  full  account  of  his  life 
see  “Life  of  William  McCutchen  Morrison:  Twenty 
Years  in  Central  Africa,”  by  T.  C.  Vinson.) 

9.  Who  was  the  first  missionary  physician? 

Dr.  Llewellyn  J.  Coppedge,  who  spent  about  ten 
years  in  the  Congo  and  endeared  himself  to  all  the 
natives  and  missionaries  by  his  medical  and  (mission¬ 
ary  labors.  Laiter  he  became  the  first  physician  of  our 
Mexico  Mission. 


VII.  NATIVE  AND  MISSIONARY  LIFE. 

1.  What  are  the  principal  tribes  among  whom  our  mission¬ 

aries  are  working? 

There  are  three  principal  tribes  among  whom  our 
missionaries  are  working,  the  Baluba,  Lulua  and 
Bakuba.  Another,  the  Bena  Koshi,  may  be  considered 
as  a  fourth;  for,  although  they  are  made  up  of  Lulua 
and  Baluba  elements  mingled  with  those  of  a  people 
coming  north  of  the  Sankuru  River,  they  maintain  a 
separate  and  distinct  life  and  consider  themselves  an 
entirely  separate  tribe. 

2.  What  is  meant  exactly  by  a  tribe?  Give  some  little  idea 

of  their  origin. 

The  tribe  is  a  family  or  clan  springing  from  one 
original  source.  To  define  a  tribe,  we  must  think  of 
the  analogous  case  of  Abraham,  who  left  his  home  in 
the  East  and  became  father  of  a  multitude,  not  only 
the  ancestor  of  the  Children  of  Israel,  but  of  the  Ish- 
maelites,  Edomites  and  Amalekites.  The  ^Baluba  and 
Lulua  probably  sprang  from  one  ancestor,  but  the 
children  of  that  ancestor,  as  the  land  became  too  great 
for  their  support,  separated  and  formed  other  tribes. 
The  Baluba  people  are  made  up  of  forty  or  fifty  dif¬ 
ferent  tribes  or  families,  all  of  them  very  large  and 
powerful;  the  Lulua  are  made  up  of  not  less  than 
sixty,  and  probably  nearly  a  hundred  different  tribes; 
the  Bakuba  comprise  less  than  a  dozen  tribes,  though 


36 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


they  hold  sway  over  many  others  of  Lulua  origin;  the 
Bena  Koshi  are  made  up  of  about  one  dozen  different 
tribes.  To  describe  these  tribes  in  particular  would 
require  a  book  in  itself. 

3.  What  language  do  these  people  speak ? 

The  Baluba,  Lulua  and  Bena  Koshi  all  speak  a  lan¬ 
guage  that  is  called  the  Buluba-Lulua  because  spoken 
both  by  Baluba  and  by  the  Lulua  with  tribal  inflec¬ 
tions  and  changes;  the  Bakuba  speak  what  is  known 
as  Bushongo  or  Bukuba,  the  Bakuba  people  them¬ 
selves  being  known  as  the  iBashongo.  The  language 
of  a  people  is  designated  by  the  prefix  Bu-  while  the 
people  are  designated  by  the  prefix  Ba-. 

4.  For  how  many  people  in  the  Congo  has  our  Church  un¬ 

dertaken  the  responsibility  of  bringing  the  light 

of  salvation? 

For  at  least  two  millions  or  more;  no  accurate  cen¬ 
sus  having  been  taken,  we  are  left  only  to  estimate  the 
number  from  the  tax  returns.  Mutoto  and  Luebo 
alone  are  responsible  for  the  evangelization  of  more 
than  one  million,  while  Bulape,  Bibanga  and  Lusambo 
have  large  populations  for  which  they  are  responsible. 

5.  If  our  church  fails  in  this  responsibility,  who  can  assume 

it? 

Apparently  no  other  church  can  assume  it,  as  we 
have  given  our  pledge  to  the  world  that  we  ourselves 
shall  assume  it. 

6.  What  is  a  native  village? 

A  native  village  is  a  group  of  huts  fronting  on  ir¬ 
regularly  laid  out  streets  and  containing  anywhere 
from  one  hundred  to  four  or  five  thousand  people.  Some 
of  the  larger  villages  in  the  region  near  Bibanga  nuftn- 
ber  as  many  as  six  or  eight  thousand.  As  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  is  gathering  together  all  of  the  villages  of 
one  tribe,  the  average  village  will  number  in  excess 
of  five  hundred  people.  Some  of  the  chiefs  settle  around 
a  large  tree  resembling  an  oak,  and  the  Basonge  vil¬ 
lages  are  notably  beautiful  for  their  palm  trees. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


37 


7.  Who  governs  the  people  in  these  villages ? 

The  head-chief,  who  is  generally  known  as  the 
“medal-chief”  because  his  authority  is  recognized  by 
the  State  and  he  wears  a  nickel  medal  with  the  insignia 
of  the  Belgian  Government.  Under  the  medal-chief 
there  are  the  “nyampara,”  who  control  the  different 
clans  of  the  tribe,  and  the  sub-chiefs,  who  are  under 
these  “nyampara.” 


One  Practical  Result  of  Foreign  Missions. 

8.  In  what  kind  of  houses  do  the  natives  live? 

There  are  four  prevailing  types  of  houses  in  the 
section  where  we  are  working,  the  kind  of  house  de¬ 
pending  on  the  tribe.  The  more  degenerate  Lulua 
live  in  grass  huts  or  huts  made  of  large  leaves  re¬ 
sembling  the  banana  leaf;  the  better  class  of  Lulua 
live  in  small  mud-and-stick  or  stucco  houses  made  by 
tying  palm-limbs  or  smaller  sticks  to  upright  poles  in 
the  ground,  daubing  in  the  crevices  with  mud,  and  with 
a  neatly  thatched  roof  overhead.  The  Baluba  almost 
without  exception  build  much  larger  mud-and-stick 
houses,  those  living  on  the  almost  treeless  plains  hav¬ 
ing  to  build  larger  grass  houses  in  the  form  of  a  large 


38 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


haystack.  The  Bakuba  and  subject  tribes  nearly  all 
build  a  neatly  thatched  house  out  of  palmetto-palm 
leaves.  The  Bakuba  house  is  so  built  that  they  can 
be  taken  apart  and  set  up  in  six  sections,  so  the  vil¬ 
lages  can  be  quickly  moved  from  one  spot  to  another. 
The  Bakuba  and  Basonge  always  settle  near  a  palm 
thicket. 

9.  What  do  the  natives  eat ? 

The  diet  also  varies  with  the  tribe.  The  staple  diet  for 
all  the  natives  is  the  cassava-root  flour  and  the  tender 
green  leaves  of  the  manioc  or  cassava  plant.  These 
cassava  roots  furnish  us  with  tapioca  and  contain  a 
great  deal  of  nourishment.  The  flour  is  prepared  by 
beating  the  roots  in  a  large  mortar  formed  out  of  a 
tree  trunk,  the  roots  being  soaked  in  water  or  mud  and 
dried  in  the  sun  before  being  beaten. 

The  Baluba  vary  their  diet  by  large  use  of  corn 
meal,  and  the  Lulua  and  Baluba,  as  well  as  the  Bakete 
(a  tribe  subject  to  the  Bakuba)  use  large  quantities 
of  millet  flour.  Besides  these  cereals,  they  raise  po¬ 
tatoes,  okra,  pumpkins,  egg-plants,  tomatoes  and  a 
few  other  vegetables;  the  quantity  of  vegetables,  etc., 
depends  on  (the  industry  of  the  tribe.  Peanuts  are 
very  common,  especially  among  the  Bakete  and  Bakuba. 
Then  the  natives  hunt  quite  frequently  and  vary  the 
domestic  Imeats  with  antelope,  wild  hog,  elephant,  hip¬ 
pos,  and  other  animals. 

Among  the  delicacies  of  which  the  natives  are  fond 
are:  fowls,  goats,  grasshoppers,  monkeys,  white-ants 
field-rats  (seldom  house-rats),  armadillos  and  some¬ 
times  snakes  and  large  lizards,  especially  the  iguana. 

10.  How  does  the  native  cultivate  the  soil? 

The  Lulua  depend  almost  solely  on  the  women  for 
the  cultivation  of  the  fields  and  the  men  must  be  forced 
to  work,  so  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  among  them  is 
the  burning  off  of  a  plain  and  the  planting  of  cassava, 
millet,  and  potatoes  or  peanuts.  The  Baluba,  being 
among  the  most  industrious  natives  of  the  Congo,  will 
clear  the  forest  by  felling  tremendous  trees  with  a 
small  axe  about  four  inches  long  and  an  inch  and  a 
half  broad.  The  trees  are  allowed  to  dry  and  then 
fire  is  started  and  most  of  the  lighter  branches  and 
twigs  are  consumed.  The  native  then  proceeds  to 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


39 


clear  as  much  space  as  possible  with  his  little  axe  and 
by  burning  away  the  heavier  trunks,  after  which  he 
begins  to  dig  the  soil  with  a  small  hoe.  This  hoe  is 
furnished  with  a  handle  not  over  two  feet  long;  give 
him  a  longer  hoe  and  he  will  try  to  break  or  cut  the 
handle  until  he  gets  it  down  to  his  size.  With  this 
hoe  and  his  axe  and  fire  he  will  gradually  clear  away 
and  plant  rather  roughly  about  two  acres  each  year, 
enlarging  this  as  his  industry  and  family  permit.  There 
are  no  plows  nor  harrows,  the  hoe  and  axe  forming 
the  only  implements  he  knows  in  his  native  state. 

11.  What  plants  have  the  missionaries  and  other  Europeans 

introduced ? 

The  ground  in  most  instances  being  fertile,  there 
have  been  introduced  most  of  the  common  vegeta¬ 
bles  grown  at  home,  especially  such  as  grow  in  the 
South,  besides  oranges,  lemons,  limes,  beautiful  pine¬ 
apples,  much  better  bananas,  mangoes,  papaws  (known 
as  papayas  in  the  tropics  and  being  far  superior  to 
the  common  paw-paw  in  the  South)  and  several  other 
different  kinds  of  plants.  Many  of  the  native  vege¬ 
tables  and  fruits,  such  as  bananas,  have  been  super¬ 
seded  by  the  introduction  of  better  stock. 

12.  What  plan  has  the  Government  for  introducing  fruits  and 

ornamental  shrubbery ? 

A  tropical  garden  is  maintained  by  the  Government 
at  Eala,  on  the  Congo  River,  and  fruits  and  plants  of 
every  description  may  be  had  almost  for  the  asking. 

13.  What  do  the  natives  wear? 

Contrary  to  common  opinion,  almost  all  of  the  na¬ 
tives  wear  some  little  clothing,  though  this  is  very 
meager  among  those  tribes  who  are  not  in  immediate 
contact  with  the  white  people.  Those  not  in  imimediate 
contact  with  the  white  man  wear  a  simple  loin  cloth 
of  raphia  palm  or  cloth  obtained  in  barter,  some  wear¬ 
ing  skins  of  animals.  Foreign  cloth  is  often  used  even 
among  tribes  who  have  little  or  no  intercourse  with 
foreigners.  The  Bakuba  and  all  their  subject  tribes 
wear  a  full  skirt  of  native-woven  palm-fibre,  this  be* 
ing  draped  around  the  lower  part  of  the  bodies  by  both 
men  and  women  while  the  upper  part  of  the  body  is 
bare.  The  natives  who  are  in  immediate  contact  with 


40 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


foreigners  wear  variegated  costumes  made  of  fancy 
cloth  sold  in  European  stores,  or  cast-off  clothing  of 
foreigners,  soldiers’  uniforms,  uniforms  of  postmen, 
conductors,  and  other  public  men  in  Europe.  Some 
are  very  neatly  and  sensibly  dressed  in  simple  cloth¬ 
ing  made  from  blue  indigo  or  strong  white  cotton  cloth; 
nearly  all  our  native  evangelists  are  thus  clothed. 

14.  Where  do  the  natives  get  foreign  clothes? 

A  great  imany  Europeans  have  stores  or  what  are 
generally  known  as  “magasins”  in  the  Congo,  which 
carry  on  a  brisk  trade  in  second-hand  clothing,  varie¬ 
gated  cloth  and  uniforms.  After  the  War  a  great 
many  of  the  soldiers’  uniforms  found  their  way  out 
here  and  are  being  worn  to  the  great  delectation  of 
the  natives  in  Congo.  Many  of  the  natives  own  sew¬ 
ing  machines  and  many  of  them  make  first-rate  tailors 
and  are  patronized  by  white  people  as  well. 

15.  How  do  the  natives  trade? 

They  have  certain  days  for  markets,  to  which  they 
bring  their  produce  and  exchange  with  others  for  Eu¬ 
ropean  wares.  The  articles  of  barter  are  various  na¬ 
tive  plants,  goats,  chickens,  ducks,  caterpillars,  ants, 
palm-oil,  potatoes,  mats,  pots,  bottles,  knives  and  (many 
other  things  useful  for  household  and  dress. 

16.  Where  are  some  of  the  largest  of  these  markets  held? 

At  Luebo  there  is  a  very  large  market  near  the  Mis¬ 
sion  compound,  and  at  all  our  stations  there  are  rather 
large  markets.  The  Luebo  market  was  once  the  largest 
in  the  country,  numbering  from  three  to  four  thousand 
natives  every  Saturday. 

17.  With  what  do  missionaries  and  natives  barter? 

Salt,  cloth  and  money  (special  currency  of  the 
Congo)  form  the  principal  mediulm  of  exchange;  but 
often,  especially  at  our  interior  stations,  one  can  use 
cowrie-shells,  bottles,  cans,  matches,  moth-balls,  safe¬ 
ty-pins,  needles,  thread,  mirrors  and  beads  in  buying 
native  produce.  The  missionary  finds  at  the  native 
markets  such  things  as  baskets,  mats,  eggs,  some  na¬ 
tive  vegetables,  water-jars,  and  palm-oil.  Each  station 
maintains  a  store  for  the  purpose  of  selling  a  few 
articles  in  order  to  get  francs  enough  to  keep  in  cur- 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


41 


rency;  otherwise  one  would  have  great  difficulty  in 
getting  supplies  or  in  paying  workmen. 

18.  Where  do  the  missionaries  get  most  of  their  foreign  sup¬ 

plies  ? 

Clothing  and  groceries,  medical  and  household  sup¬ 
plies  are  bought  mainly  in  England  or  Belgium.  For 
many  years  Messrs.  Whyte,  Ridsdale  and  Company  in 
England  supplied  our  missionaries,  but  the  purchasing 
and  shipping  in  Belgium  have  been  found  much  more 
to  our  satisfaction.  Supplies  are  ordered  a  year  in 
advance,  as  they  are  often  as  long  as  six  or  eight 
months  in  reaching  us  after  being  shipped. 

19.  What  kind  of  houses  do  the  missionaries  live  in? 

At  present  many  Imissionaries  are  living  in  the  old 
mud-and-stick  houses  that  were  uniformly  used  before 
the  coming  of  industrial  builders  who  could  put  up 
more  substantial  and  more  healthful  houses.  These  mud- 
and-stick  houses  were  a  larger  edition  of  the  native 
house  of  that  type,  with  more  rooms  and  windows  and 
raised  higher  from  the  ground.  The  ladies  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church  have  raised  a  consider¬ 
able  sum  of  money  for  better  houses  and  on  several 
stations  brick  houses  of  a  more  healthful  and  sub¬ 
stantial  type  are  superseding  the  stucco  houses.  The 
housing  problem,  especially  at  Mutoto  Station,  is  quite 
serious  and  we  are  praying  for  more  builders  to  come 
to  the  help  of  those  who  are  seeking  to  build  these 
homes  with  the  money  the  ladies  have  provided. 

20.  Why  can  not  our  Mission  build  houses  quickly? 

Because  there  are  no  native  or  European  contractors 
to  whom  we  can  turn  for  this  work.  There  are  only 
five  industrial  men  on  the  whole  Mission  and  one  of 
these  must  train  the  natives  at  the  Carson  Industrial 
School  at  Luebo.  The  others  must  work  with  many 
almost  overwhelming  obstacles  against  them. 

21.  What  may  be  said  of  the  health  of  our  missionaries  at 

the  various  stations? 

On  the  whole,  the  health  of  the  missionaries  is  very 
good  indeed  and  will  compare  very  favorably  with  that 
of  any  set  of  missionaries  working  in  tropical  countries. 
Very  few  deaths  have  occurred  and  these  were  almost 


42 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


entirely  confined  to  the  early  years  of  the  Mission. 
Most  of  the  breakdowns  can  be  traced  to  overwork 
and  not  to  the  climate,  the  pressure  of  great  numbers 
of  natives  being  too  great  for  so  few  missionaries. 

22.  Tell  something  of  how  the  missionaries  travel  in  Congo. 

The  ordinary  form  of  (travel  is  by  hammock  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  natives.  From  six  to  eight  natives 
are  necessary,  these  taking  turns  in  carrying  two-by- 
two.  The  men  use  bicycles  with  great  advantage,  and 
these  and  motorcycles  are  gradually  replacing  the 
hammock  with  evangelistic  missionaries  especially. 

23.  Can  motor  vehicles  he  used  with  ease ? 

As  the  Belgian  Government  has  built  many  miles  of 
good  roads  during  the  past  three  or  four  years,  one 
can  travel  by  motorcycle  over  the  larger  routes,  but 
must  trust  to  hammock  and  bicycle  as  he  leaves  the 
regular  beaten  paths.  In  a  few  years,  it  is  thought, 
all  of  the  villages  will  be  moved  up  to  these  motor 
roads  and  then  they  can  be  reached  by  motorcycle  or 
by  automobile. 

24.  How  do  missionaries  now  live  on  an  itinerary? 

It  is  necessary  to  take  along  all  the  food  to  be  used, 
although  one  can  generally  find  some  native  vegetables, 
especially  when  with  our  evangelists.  A  tent  is  hardly 
ever  necessary  as  one  can  either  use  the  evangelists’ 
houses  or  the  larger  State  rest-houses.  But  cooking 
utensils,  medicines  and  camping  outfit  must  be  taken. 
Besides  the  cook  and  one  or  two  boys  who  must  be  also 
taken  along,  the  caravan  will  number  anywhere  from 
fifteen  to  a  hundred  men,  the  supplies  all  being  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  native  porters. 

25.  What  is  done  on  an  evangelistic  itinerary? 

An  evangelistic  itinerary  usually  requires  a  smaller 
number  of  men  as  the  missionary  travels  slowly  and 
is  usually  travelling  lightly.  Churches  are  visited; 
inquirers  for  baptism  are  examined  and  if  found  ready 
for  it  are  baptized;  those  who  are  found  to  be  living 
in  sin  are  dismissed  from  the  church,  their  names  be¬ 
ing  read  out  at  one  of  the  services;  the  people  are  en¬ 
couraged  and  advised  with  on  any  problems  relating 
to  their  Christian  lives  in  the  village;  the  evangelists 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


43 


are  also  advised  as  to  their  weak  points;  and  every 
effort  is  made  to  encourage  the  evangelist  and  his 
flock  to  persevere  in  the  face  of  overwhelming  tempta¬ 
tions. 


Students  at  Bible  School,  Mutoto. 


2fi.  Why  are  these  evangelistic  itineraries  of  prime  impor¬ 
tance  and  what  hinders  our  missionaries  from  doing 
more  of  this  work? 

The  evangelistic  itinerary  is  of  prime  importance  be¬ 
cause  in  no  other  way  can  the  missionary  get  at  the 
heart  of  the  problems  pertaining  to  the  church  at  large; 
the  local  station  reaches  only  a  very  small  proportion 
of  the  church  members  and  inquirers  for  baptism  as 
the  outstations  of  Luebo  and  Mutoto  alone  number 
more  than  two  hundred  for  each  station.  These  itin¬ 
eraries  cannot  be  taken  more  frequently  because  of 
the  necessity  of  having  missionaries  at  the  station 
base  teaching  and  training  the  native  evangelists. 

27.  What  missionaries  have  recently  done  a  great  deal  of 
this  work  of  itineration? 

Rev.  J.  K.  Hobson  at  Luebo  Station  and  Rev.  Plumer 
Smith  at  Mutoto.  Mr.  Smith  practically  lived  in  the 


44 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


outstations  during  his  last  year  before  going  on  fur¬ 
lough. 

28.  What  is  generally  the  attitude  of  the  natives  toward  the 
missionaries  on  these  itineraries ? 

They  receive  the  missionary  with  enthusiasm  and 
often  accompany  him  into  their  villages  with  songs 
and  shouts,  raising  the  dust  and  almost  choking  him 
with  their  demonstrations.  He  is  brought  presents  of 
food  and  fowls  and  otherwise  treated  with  native  hos¬ 
pitality.  The  evangelists  put  their  houses  at  his  dis¬ 
posal  and  bring  firewood  and  water  for  his  comfort. 


VIII.  LATER  HISTORY.  FOUNDING  OF 
OTHER  STATIONS. 

Luebo 

1.  What  became  of  the  handful  of  natives  who  were  first 

received  into  the  Luebo  Church? 

Like  the  leaven  that  the  woman  hid  in  three  measures 
of  meal  until  the  whole  was  leavened,  the  first  con¬ 
verts  spread  the  gospel  among  their  fellow  men  until 
the  church  at  Luebo  became  one  of  the  largest  Presby¬ 
terian  Churches  in  the  world. 

2.  Were  all  these  converts  received  at  Luebo  alone? 

No,  many  of  them  were  received  at  the  outstations, 
all  outstations  being  included  in  the  membership  of 
the  station. 

3.  What  is  an  outpost  or  oaitstation? 

It  is  a  village  to  which  an  evangelist  is  sent  from 
one  of  the  main  stations.  Each  station  is  assigned  a 
certain  territory  as  its  zone  within  which  evangelistic 
work  must  be  conducted,  and  each  village  having  a  resi¬ 
dent  evangelist  within  this  territory  is  called  an  “out- 
station”  because  it  a  small  station  under  the  super¬ 
vision  of  the  main  station.  The  work  at  these  out¬ 
stations  is  largely  a  replica  of  that  at  the  (main  sta¬ 
tions. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


45 


4.  What  other  institutions  were  founded  at  Luebo  in  later 

years ? 

The  John  Leighton  Wilson  Printing  Press,  the  Mc- 
Keowen  Memorial  Hospital,  Panitops  Home,  Carson  In¬ 
dustrial  School. 

5.  What  can  be  said  of  the  importance  of  the  John  Leighton 

Wilson  Press ? 

It  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  work  of  the  Mission. 
All  text-books  and  all  literature  with  the  exception  of 
Bibles  are  printed  on  its  presses.  Bibles  are  for  con¬ 
venience  printed  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  or  the  American  Bible  Society. 

6.  What  about  the  Pantops  Home? 

This  is  a  home  for  native  girls  where  hundreds  of 
them  have  been  trained  for  wives  of  evangelists  or  for 
other  Christian  homes.  For  twenty  years  Miss  Maria 
Fearing  was  in  charge,  assisted  at  different  times  by 
Mrs.  DeYampert,  formerly  Miss  Thomas,  Mrs. 
Anne  Taylor  Rochester,  and  Mrs.  Edmisiton,  all  of 
them  faithful  colored  women  well-equipped  for  their 
task.  Following  Miss  Fearing  the  home  has  been  under 
the  supervision  of  Mrs.  Edmiston,  Mrs.  McElroy,  Mrs. 
McKinnon,  Mrs.  Cleveland,  Mrs.  Allen  and  Miss  Ida 
McLean  Black. 

7.  What  about  the  McKeowen  Memorial  Hospital? 

This  was  built  by  Mr.  Hillhouse  in  1914-1915  and 
was  furnished  and  equipped  through  the  liberality  of 
friends  in  the  homeland  and  the  ingenuity  and  me¬ 
chanical  genius  of  Dr.  Stixrud.  In  1921  the  hospital 
was  destroyed  by  fire  but  was  rebuilt  again  by  Mr. 
Hillhouse  through  the  liberality  of  the  McKeowens. 

The  work  of  the  hospital  is  unique  among  the  hos¬ 
pitals  of  the  Congo.  During  the  year  1922  over  thirty 
thousand  treatments  of  various  kinds  were  given  pa¬ 
tients  from  every  section  of  the  country. 

8.  Tell  something  of  the  work  of  the  Carson  Industrial 

School. 

This  school,  made  possible  by  the  liberality  of  Mr. 
R.  C.  Carson  of  Whiteville,  N.  C.,  and  erected  by  Mr. 
C.  R.  Stegall,  who  has  been  the  Superintendent  since  its 
founding,  is  designed  to  train  the  natives  in  carpentry, 


46 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


brick-laying,  tanning  of  hides,  shoe-making  and  re¬ 
pairing,  and  other  useful  trades.  Many  young  men 
have  been  graduated  here  and  have  gone  out  to  fill 
places  of  usefulness  in  the  Congo. 

9.  What  about  the  evangelistic  work  of  Luebo  station ? 

The  evangelistic  work  of  this  station  is  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  Mission.  The  local  evangelistic  work, 
owing  to  the  grouping  of  many  thousands  of  natives 
around  the  Mission  and  State  Post,  is  quite  the  largest 
on  the  Mission  and  probably  the  largest  single  piece 
of  evangelistic  work  in  the  Congo.  The  outstations, 
numbering  210,  are  outnumbered  only  by  those  of 
Mutoto  Station,  which  has  over  230.  It  should  be 
said,  too,  that  the  other  stations  have  drawn  their 
life  largely  from  Luebo  as  the  mother  station,  many 
of  the  Luebo  evangelists  having  started  the  work  at 
the  other  stations. 

10.  What  became  of  the  work  at  South  Luebo ? 

South  Luebo,  which  was  formerly  manned  by  Rev. 
arid  Mrs.  N.  G.  Stevens,  followed  by  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
A.  C.  McKinnon,  did  a  fine  work  among  the  local  vil¬ 
lages  centered  around  the  State  Post  and  also  among 
the  prisoners  of  the  State,  who  are  sent  to  Luebo  as 
the  capital  of  the  Kasai  District  of  the  Congo.  Owing 
to  (the  fact  that  many  of  these  villages  were  removed 
by  the  State,  and  also  because  of  the  inadequate  force 
at  Luebo  Station  proper,  the  station  at  South  Luebo 
was  abandoned  and  all  the  work  there  placed  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Luebo  Station.  Work  is  still 
maintained,  as  before,  among  the  remaining  villages, 
but  the  station  property  has  been  sold  to  the  Govern¬ 
ment. 

11.  What  became  of  the  good  work  that  had  been  done  at 

Ibanche? 

As  a  large  part  of  it  had  been  in  behalf  of  the  Lu- 
lua  and  Baluba,  a  good  evangelist  was  placed  there 
for  work  among  these  people,  the  oversight  of  this 
particular  phase  of  the  work  being  assigned  to  Luebo 
Station.  The  work  that  had  been,  done  among  the 
Bakuba  was  transferred  to  .Bulape  Station.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Edmiston  were  then  assigned  other  work  at  Luebo, 
finally  being  placed  at  Mutoto  for  the  agricultural 
work  of  the  Morrison  Bible  School. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


47 


Bulape 

12.  What  station,  then,  took  the  place  of  Ibanche? 

The  station  at  Bakua  Nzeba,  named  in  honor  of 
Mrs.  Anne  Taylor  Rochester,  Bulape,  and  founded  by 
Messrs.  Washburn  and  Allen  in  1915. 

13.  What  missionaries  have  been  closely  identified  with  the 

work  among  the  Bakuba? 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Edmiston,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  McC. 
Sieg,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Washburn,  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
C.  T.  Wharton,  Miss  Elda  May  Fair. 

14.  Who  are  now  at  Bulape? 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Washburn,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  C.  T. 
Wharton,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Allen  and  Miss  Emma 
Larson,  the  latter  having  been  assigned  during  1922 
as  the  trained  nurse  of  that  station. 

15.  What  important  educational  work  is  done  at  Bulape? 

The  training  of  native  evangelists  by  the  Rev.  J.  W. 
Allen  in  the  Bulape  Bible  School ;  the  Maria  Carey 
Home  for  Girls,  now  under  the  superintendency  of 
Mrs.  Washburn;  and  the  day  schools  under  Mrs.  Allen. 

16.  What  has  been  done  in  providing  the  Bakuba  with  a  lit¬ 

erature  ? 

Mrs.  Edmiston  has  done  good  work  in  translating 
hymns  and  readers  for  the  schools  and  has  also  com¬ 
piled  a  Bukuba  Grammar;  Mrs.  Rochester  and  others 
likewise  translated  hymns  into  this  language;  and 
Mr.  Wharton  is  now  at  work  in  providing  for  the 
Bakuba  what  has  been  done  for  the  Baluba  in  the  way 
of  a  literature,  translating  -a  “Story  of  the  Bible,”  be¬ 
sides  several  new  readers. 

17.  What  other  missionary  has  been  one  of  the  “ wheel- 

horses ”  of  the  Bakuba  work? 

Rev.  H.  M.  Washburn,  whose  tireless  energy,  tactful 
zeal,  and  consecrated  Christian  life  have  made  him  an 
unique  figure  in  this  work.  He  has  done  a  large  part 
of  the  building  of  the  station  as  well  as  carrying  his 
full  load  of  the  evangelistic  work. 


48 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


18.  What  is  the  outlook  for  the  Bakuha  work  now ? 

Apparently  most  premising.  Already  many  villages 
have  moved  up  to  the  station  to  get  the  benefit  of  the 
church  and  school,  and  over  500  members  have  been 
received  into  the  churcn.  The  Bakuba  king,  Lukengu, 
who  holds  sway  over  a  large  territory  and  is  really  the 
only  native  king  in  this  section,  has  shown  every  indica¬ 
tion  of  his  favor  towards  the  Protestant  missionaries 
in  contrast  with  his  disfavor  of  the  Romanists. 

Mutoto 

19.  Where  is  Mutoto  Station  and  why  was  it  founded ? 

It  is  about  140  miles  southeast  of  Luebo  just  a  little 
off  the  route  between  Luebo  and  Lusambo,  and  is  situ¬ 
ated  among  the  Lulua  and  Bena  Koshi  people.  The 
site  was  chosen  by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Morrison  shortly  be¬ 
fore  the  death  of  the  latter,  and  was  formally  opened  by 
Rev.  Motte  Martin  in  1911,  but  Messrs.  McKee  and 
Bedinger  with  Mrs.  McKee  were  the  first  resident  mis¬ 
sionaries. 

20.  For  whom  was  Mutoto  named? 

For  Mrs.  Morrison  whose  native  name  was  Mutoto, 
a  star. 

21.  What  may  be  said  of  its  early  history? 

After  it  was  opened  by  Mr.  Martin,  Mr.  Prichard 
occupied  it  for  a  few  months  until  his  furlough,  after 
which  Ntumba  Luke,  a  splendid  native  evangelist,  was 
put  in  charge  in  the  absence  of  a  missionary  to  man  it. 
Ntumba  Luke  managed  all  the  evangelistic  work  of 
the  station,  paying  the  workmen,  conducting  a  school 
and  church  and  showing  quite  a  great  deal  of  wisdom 
and  discretion  in  its  management. 

22.  Who  followed  Messrs.  Bedinger  and  McKee? 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rochester,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen,  Mr. 
Plumer  Smith  and  Mr.  Hillhouse.  In  a  short  while, 
however,  the  Allens  were  forced  to  leave  on  account 
of  Mr.  Allen’s  health  requiring  him  to  be  near  the  doc¬ 
tor,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKee  left  for  furlough  and  Messrs. 
Bedinger  and  Hillhouse  were  sent  to  open  Lusambo 
Station.  This  left  the  Rochesters  and  Mr.  Smith  at 
the  station. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


49 


23.  What  sad  death  occurred  at  Mutoto  in  1914? 

The  death  of  Mrs.  Rochester,  who  was  beloved  by 
everybody,  missionaries  and  natives,  and  of  whom  a 
native  once  said,  “She  never  showed  herself,  she  showed 
the  Christ.” 

24.  What  of  the  later  progress  of  the  work  at  Mutoto? 

It  progressed  to  a  wonderful  degree.  In  1914  more 
converts  were  baptized  at  this  one  station  than  were 


Ready  for  the  Trail. 

baptized  on  the  whole  Mission  during  the  first  eleven 
years.  The  child  of  Luebo  Station  soon  outstripped 
the  mother  in  the  number  of  outstations.  The  terri¬ 
tory  stretches  from  the  Lulua  River  in  the  west  as  far 
as  the  Lubi  in  the  east,  as  far  south  as  Dibaya  and 
as  far  north  as  Lusambo.  It  now  has  265  native  evan¬ 
gelists,  including  one  ordained  pastor,  several  elders 
and  several  deacons;  227  outstations  in  the  Mutoto 
territory  proper  and  24  in  the  Lusalmbo  territory. 


50 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


25.  What  ti'ibes  are  reached  from  Mutoto? 

A  large  number  of  the  Lulua,  the  Baluba  tribes  of 
the  Bakwa  Kalonshi  ka  Mpuka,  and  the  Bena  Koshi. 

26.  What  important  educational  institution  is  at  Mutoto ? 

The  Morrison  Bible  School,  which  is  the  central 
training  school  for  the  native  evangelists.  Every  sta¬ 
tion  on  the  Mission  has  its  students  in  the  student 
body. 

27.  Give  some  little  account  of  this  institution. 

It  was  founded  at  Luebo  in  1913  and  in  a  few  years 
grew  from  a  mere  handful  of  students  to  a  student 
body  of  over  one  hundred.  In  1918  it  was  moved  to 
Mutoto  on  account  of  the  central  location  of  that  sta¬ 
tion  and  the  student  body  has  numbered  nearly  200 
ever  since  then.  The  course  of  study  covers  a  period 
of  four  years,  the  students  being  required  to  complete 
the  regular  course  in  the  day  schools  before  entering. 
Besides  the  work  of  the  classroom  these  students  are 
given  training  in  agriculture  and  are  required  to  do 
so  many  hours  of  manual  training  each  day  in  order 
to  comply  with  the  requirements  for  graduation. 

In  1921  the  Mission  again  ordered  that  the  curricu¬ 
lum  be  changed  to  include  handcraft  and  carpentry 
and  also  added  several  new  missionaries  to  the  faculty. 
As  soon  as  the  personnel  is  found  to  aid  in  carrying 
out  the  plans  and  policies  this  institution  will  take  rank 
among  the  very  best  training  schools  in  Africa. 

28.  What  other  institution  is  located  at  Mutoto ? 

The  Maria  Fearing  Girls’  Home,  which  was  founded 
in  1920. 

29.  Where  do  the  students  of  these  two  institutions  get  their 

training  in  agriculture ? 

At  the  farm  which  is  attached  to  Mutoto  Station  and 
containing  over  300  acres. 

30.  What  of  the  future  importance  of  Mutoto ? 

As  it  is  almost  exactly  the  geographical  center  of 
the  entire  territory  and  has  been  made  the  educational 
center  of  the  Mission,  the  importance  of  Mutoto  Sta¬ 
tion  can  scarcely  be  overestimated. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


51 


31.  When  and  where  was  Lusambo  Station  founded? 

It  was  founded  by  Messrs.  McKee  and  Bedinger  in 
1913  on  the  Sankuru  River  about  125  miles  from  Mu- 
toto.  It  was  formally  opened  by  Messrs.  Bedinger  and 
Hillhouse  in  1913. 

32.  Who  were  the  first  resident  missionaries? 

Mr.  Bedinger  and  Mr.  Hillhouse.  Shortly  after  Mr. 
Hillhouse  left  the  station,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKinnon 
were  placed  there.  Afterwards  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sieg 
were  transferred  from  Ibanche  and  were  at  Lusambo 
until  1915. 

33.  What  of  the  early  years  of  this  work? 

The  work  advanced  in  spite  of  the  intense  opposi¬ 
tion  and  even  persecution  by  the  Roman  Catholics.  In 
a  short  while  more  than  thirty  outstations  had  been 
added  to  the  station.  From  the  very  start  the  people 
of  the  station  showed  a  more  than  usual  earnestness 
and  zeal  for  the  work.  This  continued  when  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bedinger  returned  from  furlough. 

34.  What  was  the  condition  of  the  work  in  1921-1922? 

At  that  time  the  station  had  68  outstations,  of  which 
48  were  supported  by  the  native  church,  the  local 
church  had  grown  in  numbers  and  influence  until 
their  “faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  regions” 
adjacent,  and  the  entire  membership,  including  both 
that  of  the  local  church  and  that  in  the  outstations, 
had  reached  the  total  of  over  450. 

35.  What  important  changes  have  recently  been  made  in  the 

status  of  Lusambo  Station? 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bedinger  having  been  transferred  to 
Mutoto  as  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  Morrison 
Bible  School,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cleveland,  who  had  taken 
their  places,  were  shortly  to  leave  on  furlough.  Other 
reasons  working  with  these  caused  the  Mission  Meet¬ 
ing  of  1922  to  transfer  the  evangelistic  and  educa¬ 
tional  work  of  the  station  to  Mutoto  and  Bibanga  Sta¬ 
tions,  leaving  Lusambo  as  a  transport  base. 


52 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


36.  What  was  done  with  the  local  evangelistic  and  educa¬ 

tional  work? 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Higgins  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  be¬ 
ing  located  at  Lusambo  as  joint  transport  and  business 
man  for  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Missions,  took 
charge  of  the  work  of  the  local  church  and  school  and 
have  continued  this  work  ever  since.  They  have  been 
assisted  by  the  native  pastor  and  elders  of  the  church. 

37.  What  other  missionaries  are  also  at  Lusambo  Station? 

Captain  and  Mrs.  Daumery  of  the  “S.  S.  Lapsley,” 
which  plys  up  and  down  the  Sankuru  and  Kasai  and 
Lulua  Rivers.  These  two  missionaries  are  members 
of  the  Belgian  Protestant  Church  besides  being  mem¬ 
bers  of  our  own  Mission. 

38.  What  shoidd  further  be  said  of  the  “Lapsley' s”  transport 

work? 

It  is  one  of  the  biggest  paying  investments  of  the 
church  besides  a  missionary  agency.  Without  it  we 
would  pay  exorbitant  rates  for  all  supplies  brought  up 
rivers  and  would  be  subjected  to  every  (manner  of  delay 
and  inconvenience. 


Bibanga 

39.  Where  is  Bibanga  and  when  was  it  founded? 

Bibanga  is  in  the  central  portion  of  the  Baluba 
territory,  about  140  miles  to  the  southeast  of  Mutoto 
and  occupying  a  position  in  the  heart  of  one  of  the 
finest  tribes  in  Congo.  It  was  founded  in  1917  by 
Messrs.  McKee  and  Edhegard,  the  latter  a  Swedish 
missionary  residing  at  that  time  on  our  Mission. 

40.  What  of  the  site  first  chosen? 

The  first  site  chosen  was  at  the  village  of  a  powerful 
native  chief,  Mbwa  Mutumba  by  name.  One  of  the 
officers  of  the  Be!,gian  Government  who  was  very 
favorable  to  the  Roman  Catholics  so  manipulated  mat¬ 
ters  that  our  missionaries  were  forced  to  abandon 
this  site  chosen.  However,  this  turned  out  to  be  the 
very  hand  of  God,  who  led  our  missionaries  to  choose 
a  much  more  beautiful  and  healthful  site  two  hours 
from  the  former  and  located  on  a  hill  overlooking  the 
Lubilashi  Valley  from  a  height  of  over  3,000  feet. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


53 


Thus  Bibanga  may  be  called  the  “Asheville  of  our 
Congo  Mission,”  though  it  is  even  higher  than  Ashe¬ 
ville. 

41.  What  missionaries  followed  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McKee ? 

Mr.  Hillhouse  gave  several  months  to  the  work  of 
construction  of  the  first  houses,  and  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Kel- 
lersberger  were  sent  there  from  Lusambo  in  1918. 

42.  Who  have  also  been  connected  with  the  work  of  the  Sta¬ 

tion? 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  F.  McElroy,  Miss  Ruby  Rogers, 
a  trained  nurse,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  V.  A.  Anderson  and 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Longenecker,  Mr.  Longenecker 
having  charge  of  'the  construction  work  of  the  sta¬ 
tion. 

43.  What  of  the  buildings  at  this  station? 

This  station,  though  one  of  the  newest,  is  one  of  the 
best  equipped  of  all  our  stations,  owing  mainly  to 
the  fact  that  there  was  no  building  material  near  at 
hand  and  our  Imissionaries  were  forced  to  build  in 
bricks.  Lumber  and  trees  are  very  scarce  in  that 
section  and  must  be  brought  in  from  a  considerable 
distance. 

44.  What  of  the  general  work  of  the  station? 

The  evangelistic  work  is  most  promising.  One  of 
the  best  features  of  the  work  now  is  that  we  are  now 
no  longer  working  in  ignorance  of  the  extent  of  our 
territory  but  all  has  been  carefully  explored  and 
mapped  out,  the  limits  being  clearly  delineated  and 
agreements  having  been  reached  with  the  Northern 
Methodist  Mission  as  to  the  responsibility  of  each 
mission. 

There  are  89  outstations,  exclusive  of  those  turned 
over  by  Lusambo  Station  to  Bibanga,  one  ordained 
worker  and  71  other  evangelists,  while  many  villages 
are  calling  loudly  for  evangelists. 

45.  What,  then,  is  the  future  of  Bibanga  Station? 

The  future  is  bright  with  promise.  The  Baluba  peo¬ 
ple  have  supplied  the  best  evangelists  of  the  Mission 
and  now  that  we  are  at  the  very  source  of  the  supply, 
our  Mission  should  be  able  in  a  few  years  to  depend 
on  Bibanga  for  evangelistic  supply. 


54 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


IX.  PRESENT  POLICIES.  CONCLUSION. 

1.  What  does  a  native  evangelist  do  besides  preaching  and 

pastoral  work ? 

He  is  supposed  to  maintain  a  day  school  wherever 
he  goes  and  to  uplift  the  native  by  any  kind  of  social 
work,  by  encouraging  them  in  the  raising  of  more 
food  stuffs,  by  his  teaching  on  hygiene  and  sanitation 
as  well  as  the  application  of  a  few  simple  remedies 
for  the  more  common  diseases,  and  by  doing  anything 
possible  to  bring  light  into  their  darkness.  He  is  not 
allowed  to  mingle  in  the  affairs  of  the  chief  or  of  the 
Government. 

2.  What  about  the  wives  of  the  evangelists  and  their  train¬ 

ing? 

The  wives  of  the  evangelists  are  expected  to  help 
their  husbands  with  the  work  in  any  way  possible,  es¬ 
pecially  with  the  wctnen’s  and  children’s  work.  Many 
of  them  are  untrained  and  can  do  little  or  nothing, 
others  do  very  satisfactory  work.  The  Mission  is  tak¬ 
ing  active  steps  to  see  that  all  evangelists’  wives  are 
given  some  training. 

3.  What  special  training  is  given  our  evangelists  and  their 

wives? 

Besides  the  ordinary  classroom  work  done  at  the 
Bible  Schools  of  Bulape  and  at  Mutoto,  and  the  agri¬ 
cultural  work  that  is  done  by  the  men,  there  are  spe¬ 
cial  efforts  made  to  teach  and  train  them  in  the  prin¬ 
ciples  of  neatness,  sanitation,  hygiene,  proper  ventila¬ 
tion,  better  preparation  of  food,  care  of  children  and 
better  housing.  This  is  done  by  providing  special 
dormitories  and  special  dining  arrangements  at  these 
stations  for  single  men,  and  by  the  erection  of  Imodel 
homes  for  the  married  men.  Classes  are  held  for 
women  by  the  ladies  of  the  station;  classes  for  teach¬ 
ing  Bible  lessons,  sewing,  and  proper  feeding  and  care 
of  children.  Attendance  on  the  day  schools  is  com¬ 
pulsory  for  the  women  as  well  as  the  men.  Their  spir¬ 
itual  lives  are  especially  nourished  by  the  services  on 
the  stations  and  by  the  establishing  of  family  altars; 
also  by  the  holding  of  their  own  prayer  meetings  to¬ 
gether. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


55 


4.  What  great  problem  is  now  presented  in  the  training  of 
evangelists? 

The  greatest  problem  is  to  coordinate  the  work  of 
those  who  receive  better  and  (more  careful  training 
with  the  old  line  evangelists  who  were  sent  out  in  the 
days  of  the  mass  movement  in  the  Kasai,  when  little 
training  was  given  these  men  and  when  they  were 


Lukenga,  the  Paralytic  Chief,  who  had  himself  carried  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Mission  so  that  he  might,  personally, 
ask  for  a  missionary. 

sent  to  hold  down  the  villages  in  order  to  prevent 
their  being  occupied  by  the  Romanists  before  we  could 
train  men  properly.  However,  this  matter  will  soon 
be  obviated  by  the  gradual  elimination  of  inefficient 
evangelists  and  the  substitution  of  trained  men. 

5.  What  special  features  are  prominent  in  all  our  stations 

as  a  means  of  teaching  the  Bible,  especially  to  the 
older  generation  of  evangelists? 

The  regular  conferences,  during  which  the  Bible  is 
expounded  and  taught.  Also  Bible  classes  are  held 
at  the  stations  and  these  men  are  brought  in  from 
time  to  time  to  be  given  some  training. 

6.  Why  can  a  native  evangelist  be  supported  on  so  much  less 

than  a 'missionary? 

Because  he  can  “live  as  the  natives  do,”  whereas 
such  a  policy  would  be  not  only  fatal  to  the  health 


56 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


of  the  missionary,  but  would  likewise  lose  him  his  hold 
on  the  native.  The  native  can  live  on  some  delicacies 
such  as  grasshoppers,  locusts,  lizards,  monkeys  and 
other  things  revolting  to  the  missionary  or  other  Cau¬ 
casian  palate.  The  native  can  live  with  little  or  no 
clothing  where  exposure  would  kill  a  missionary.  And 
he  can  live  very  comfortably  in  a  little  house  twenty 
feet  by  twelve,  where  even  the  advocates  of  “live-as- 
the-natives-do”  would  find  that  their  missionary  ef¬ 
ficiency  would  be  fatally  crippled. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  missionaries  do 
try  to  approach  as  nearly  as  possible  the  native  life, 
living  off  what  they  can  raise  together  with  what 
native  produce  can  be  found.  Otherwise  their  worse 
than  inadequate  salaries  would  never  provide  for  the 
many  calls  on  their  charity,  the  education  of  their 
children  and  the  maintenance  of  a  decent  standard  of 
living  such  as  might  command  the  respect  of  the  na¬ 
tive. 

7.  What  besides  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  is  the  Mission 

doing  for  the  uplift  of  the  masses  of  the  people ? 

The  masses  of  the  people  will  be  mainly  touched 
and  enlightened  through  the  ministry  of  the  native 
evangelists,  and  for  this  reason  our  Mission  is  laying 
more  and  more  stress  on  the  training  very  carefully 
of  these  men  to  become  the  leaders  of  their  people 
socially  and  civically  as  well  as  religiously.  However, 
special  efforts  are  made  in  other  directions,  and  these 
Imay  be  stated  as  follows:  (1)  Industrial  education 
such  as  is  done  at  the  Carson  Industrial  School,  which 
besides  providing  a  more  or  less  technical  and  scien¬ 
tific  course  will  inaugurate  at  once  a  one-year  course 
in  simple  carpentry  for  the  ordinary  native,  enabling 
him  to  return  to  his  village  and  raise  the  standard  of 
living  by  providing  for  simple  furniture,  doors  and 
windows  in  his  house,  and  by  building  a  better  house; 
(2)  Medical  education,  not  for  the  training  of  physi¬ 
cians,  but  for  the  teaching  of  simple  medicine  for  the 
common  native  diseases,  the  use  of  the  microscope  in 
detecting  ma’aria,  sleeping-sickness  and  intestinal  para¬ 
sites,  and  the  application  of  the  principles  of  hygiene 
and  sanitation  to  village  life;  (3)  Education  in  the 
principles  of  “The  Three  R’s,”  accompanied  by  hand¬ 
craft,  training  for  clerkships  with  the  Government, 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


57 


providing  of  an  uplifting  literature  and  broadening 
his  vision  and  sphere  of  usefulness. 

8.  Tell  something  of  the  day  schools. 

At  every  station  there  is  a  day  school  with  a  very 
carefully  worked  out  program  and  curriculum,  and 
under  the  superintendency  of  one  of  our  missionaries. 
Miss  McKay  at  Luebo  is  at  the  head  of  the  educational 
work  for  that  station;  Mr.  Gilliam  is  'the  Director  of 
Education  for  the  entire  Mission  and  is  located  at 
Mutoto;  while  other  stations  are  using  the  ladies  of 
the  station  with  good  effect.  In  the  outstations  every 
evangelist  is  expected  to  conduct  a  school.  In  both  the 
station  and  outstation  schools  men,  women,  and  chil¬ 
dren  attend  and  are  taught  to  read,  write,  spell,  work 
arithmetic  problems,  recite  Scripture  portions,  sing, 
and  learn  other  useful  things. 

9.  Do  the  natives  learn  readily? 

They  have  good  memories  and  the  younger  natives 
learn  very  readily. 

10.  What  is  a  good  illustration  of  their  memories? 

Large  congregations  sing  imany  of  the  over  140 
hymns  in  the  native  hymnal  from  memory.  Many  of 
them  can  repeat  the  entire  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the 
third  chapter  of  John,  the  11th  and  14th  chapters  of 
John,  the  13th  chapter  of  1  Corinthians,  and  many 
other  Scripture  portions.  Students  in  the  Bible  School 
can  give  the  entire  outline  of  the  Life  of  Christ  with 
the  principal  events  in  each  division. 

11.  What  of  the  native  voices? 

The  natives  sing  very  well,  though  probably  not  so 
well  as  the  negroes  in  America,  and  not  always  so 
correctly.  One  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  Mission 
is  for  trained  musicians  to  train  them  in  music. 

12.  What  may  be  said  of  the  attitude  of  the  natives  toward 

the  gospel? 

In  former  days,  even  up  to  the  year  1920,  the  na¬ 
tives  were  seemingly  eager  for  the  gospel.  Native 
delegations  by  the  dozen  were  besieging  the  stations 
at  Luebo  and  Muicoto  for  evangelists.  Hundreds  were 
baptized  into  the  communion  of  the  church  until  the 


58 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


entire  roll  registered  as  many  as  twenty  thousand. 
With  the  coming  of  the  railways,  motor-roads,  devel¬ 
opments  at  Tchikapa  and  elsewhere  there  is  a  very 
noticeable  change  in  the  native  attitude.  More  or  less 
indifference  to  the  gospel  has  taken  the  place  of  the 
former  eagerness,  hundreds  have  been  disciplined  and 
their  names  removed  for  various  causes  from  the 
church  roll,  and  not  so  many  young  men  are  offering 
themselves  for  the  gospel  ministry  or  do  not  stick  to 
the  course  when  they  commence  it.  Altogether,  our 
(missionaries  are  much  alarmed  over  the  situation  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  they  foresaw  it  years  ago  and 
gave  out  a  note  of  warning  to  the  church. 

13.  Why  and  how  does  our  Congo  church  discipline  its  mem¬ 

bers'. ? 

For  many  years  there  has  been  a  mass  movement 
into  the  Christian  Church,  this  movement  having  re¬ 
ceded  only  recently.  It  was  the  popular  thing  to  be¬ 
come  a  Christian,  and  many  hundreds  came  into  the 
church  with  mixed  motives,  failing  afterwards  to  stand 
the  test  of  temptations,  especially  the  recent  tempta¬ 
tions  of  high  wages  in  the  centers  of  industrialism. 
Careful  itineration  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries 
reveals  a  great  number  of  these  natives  living  in  sin 
or  on  the  list  of  “non-residents.”  Those  who  are  found 
to  be  living  in  open  sin  are  removed  from  the  church 
roll,  their  names  being  read  in  public.  Not  wishing 
to  make  any  false  appearances,  too,  our  missionaries 
have  adopted  the  custom  of  not  counting  any  “non¬ 
resident”  until  his  whereabouts  and  his  conduct  are 
investigated. 

After  discipline,  if  a  native  wishes  to  restore  his 
name,  he  must  make  a  public  confession  of  his  sin 
and  be  received  by  reinstatement. 

14.  What  steps  have  been  recently  taken  in  order  to  meet 

the  tide  of  commercialism  and  industrialism  and  the 
seeming  slump  in  our  work ? 

First,  greater  stress  is  laid  on  the  preparation  of 
candidates  for  baptism;  secondly,  better  preparation 
of  our  native  evangelists,  as  already  outlined;  and 
the  movement  known  as  the  PROGRESSIVE  PRO¬ 
GRAM  FOR  THE  CONGO  MISSION  has  been 
launched. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


59 


15.  What  has  been  done  for  the  better  preparation  of  candi¬ 

dates  for  baptism? 

Each  candidate,  as  formerly,  is  enrolled  in  a  cate¬ 
chumen  (inquirers)  class  and  is  required  to  attend 
regularly  for  a  period  of  at  least  four  months,  after 
which  he  is  examined  on  the  catechism  and  if  his  ex¬ 
amination  is  satisfactory  he  is  passed  to  what  may  be 
called  the  “Test  Question  Class,”  as  he  learns  here 
as  thoroughly  as  possible  the  principal  doctrines  of 
Christianity  (not  Presbyterian  doctrines  in  particu¬ 
lar,  but  the  main  teachings  of  the  Bible  on  Salvation, 
Repentance,  Faith  and  Works,  etc.).  In  the  mean¬ 
time  he  must  learn  to  read  the  Bible,  must  be  a  regu¬ 
lar  contributor  to  the  church,  must  lead  an  exemplary 
life  and  must  be  able  to  show  at  least  one  other  person 
that  he  has  led  to  accept  the  gospel.  After  a  course 
of  from  six  months  to  two  years,  depending  on  the 
earnestness  of  the  candidate,  he  may  be  baptized. 

16.  What  of  the  PROGRESSIVE  PROGRAM? 

This  movement  was  launched  by  the  Mission  in  1922, 
having  for  its  objectives  the  raising  of  180,000  francs 
within  three  years  for  the  support  of  the  native  church, 
besides  nearly  all  the  objectives  of  the  similar  or 
analogous  program  in  the  home  church,  from  which 
the  idea  grew. 

17.  What  might  be  said  of  the  success  of  the  first  year? 

It  was  quite  up  to  expectations  on  (most  of  the  ob¬ 
jectives.  Family  altars  were  erected  in  homes  where 
there  were  none  before,  contributions  of  the  natives 
alone  were  more  than  double  the  joint  contributions 
of  missionaries  and  natives  of  the  year  previous, 
tracts  were  written  and  distributed,  and  a  revival 
was  inaugurated  at  Mutoto. 

18.  What  further  can  be  said  of  the  natives'  attitude  toward 

self-support? 

This  feature  is  quite  encouraging.  In  1921  the  na¬ 
tives  and  missionaries  jointly  gave  twenty-one  thou¬ 
sand  francs.  The  contributions  of  the  missionaries 
were  afterwards  separated  completely  from  those  of 
the  natives  in  order  to  make  proper  comparisons,  and 
the  natives  gave  during  1923  the  sum  of  57,961  francs. 
This  is  four  thousand  francs  more  than  double  the 


60 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


joint  offerings  of  natives  and  missionaries  for  the  year 
previous. 

19.  Should  our  church,  then,  be  discouraged  at  the  apparent 

falling  off  of  interest  and  indifference  on  the  part 

of  the  natives? 

No  more  so  than  our  pastors  at  home  should  feel 
called  upon  to  relinquish  their  efforts  because  of  the 
widespread  indifference  to  the  gospel,  the  encroach¬ 
ments  of  “modernism,”  the  indifference  to  immorality 
and  laxness  in  the  observance  of  the  Seventh  Com¬ 
mandment  as  well  as  the  Fourth,  and  ithe  money-mad¬ 
ness  that  seems  to  have  become  a  part  of  our  national 
life  in  America.  By  comparison,  there  are  more  en¬ 
couraging  features  in  the  work  of  Christianizing  the 
Congo  than  there  are  in  Christianizing  the  centers  of 
religious  propaganda  in  Europe  and  America;  we  must 
redouble  our  efforts  in  Congo  at  this  time,  especially, 
before  it  is  too  late. 

20.  What  unanswerable  argument  is  presented  at  this  time 

for  missions  to  Africa  and  the  Congo? 

If  we  must  use  the  native  in  increasing  our  own 
wealth,  if  we  must  export  his  products  and  import  all 
the  European  vices  that  it  is  possible  to  import,  should 
we  not  also  import  the  gospel  to  counteract  the  evils 
and  counterbalance  what  we  take  away  from  him? 

21.  What  can  we  do  first? 

We  can  pray  to  the  God  of  the  Harvest  to  thrust 
out  more  laborers  into  his  harvest,  we  can  pray  that 
he  may  use  us,  if  not  on  the  field  itself,  certainly  in 
any  other  way  possible. 

22.  Can  we  do  more  than  pray? 

Importunate  prayer  will  lead  us  to  see  what  can  be 
done,  will  lead  us  to  give  of  our  substance  toward 
sending  men  and  women  now  waiting  and  ready  to 
go,  and  imay,  as  it  did  in  the  case  of  those  who  were 
first  commanded  to  pray  thus,  to  go  in  person.  “We 
can  do  no  more  than  pray  until  we  have  prayed,  but 
we  can  more  than  pray  when  we  have  prayed.” 

23.  What  prayer  and  blessing  has  Livingstone  left  as  the 

heritage  of  all  who  take  any  part  in  the  work  of 

redeeming  Africa’s  darkened  millions? 

“May  God’s  richest  blessings  come  down  upon  him, 
be  he  American  or  Englishman  or  Turk,  who  will 
help  to  heal  this  open  sore  of  the  world.” 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  CONGO 


61 


Sources  of  Information  and  Books  of  Reference. 

Religions  of  the  World  . Grant 

History  of  Christian  Missions  . Robinson 

Personal  Life  of  David  Livingstone  . Blaikie 

Daybreak  in  the  Dark  Continent . Naylor 

Life  of  Samuel  N.  Lapsley  . J.  W.  Lapsley 

Light  in  the  Dark  Continent  . Harris 

Red  Rubber  . E.  D.  Morel 

Great  Britain  and  the  Congo . E.  D.  Morel 

Congo  Free  State  . Stanley 

The  Lure  of  Africa  . Patton 

An  African  Trail  . Mackenzie 

African  Adventurers  . Mackenzie 

The  Land  of  the  Kasai  and  Its  People . Hilton-Simpson 

Triumphs  of  the  Gospel  in  the  Belgian  Congo  ....Bedinger 

Life  of  William  McCutchen  Morrison  . Vinson 

Congo  Conference  Reports.  .Obtainable  on  our  Congo  Mission 


